If a bird (or piece of one) can actually get into my intake it will
probably be sucked right through since it would be so small -
Scott,
Actually, a bird has pretty good odds on getting to your air intake
without encountering a prop blade. The odds would be somewhere around 3 1/2 to
1 of success (although I'm sure that the bird wouldn't see it as successful)
depending on your speed, rpm and the size of the bird.
At 180 knots, you're traveling about 18,216 feet per minute. At 2500 rpm
a blade is passing by the intake at the rate of 5,000 blades per minute (for a
two blade prop). That means that the airplane travels over 3 1/2 feet between
blade passes. A 1 foot long bird would have better than 3 to 1
chance of getting through.
So what's it all mean, Mr. Natural? Uhhh, not much. Just that you
shouldn't count on your prop to mince avian airspace sharers into bite
size pieces.
That sure is an elegant intake system, though.
Bill Harrelson
N5ZQ 320 1,000 hrs
N6ZQ IV
2.063%