willshak wrote:
on 1/22/2009 7:35 AM (ET) Ernie Willson wrote the following:
When I worked with flight engines at Pratt and Whitney,etc.

At Pratt we had a steam powered catapult "chicken gun" which
was used to fire chickens into the inlet of a jet in a test stand. The
chicken was shot in at about 300 mph, and the engine was expected to
keep on running at power. For the design to be certified the engine
model had to pass this test.

In the very early days (say around 1955) the chicken was alive. After
the SPCA etc. threw a hissy fit the test was changed so that the
chicken was killed before being shot into the engine. No one wanted us
to scare the chicken to death.

HTH,

EJ in NJ



Kurt Ullman wrote:

Don't they just go to the supermarket and buy chickens from the butcher?

I believe the do now. Back in the 50's it was as easy to get a live
chicken as a plucked and cleaned one. The live chicken is closer to a
real bird strike than a cleaned one, however, I doubt that the missing
viscera and feathers affects the effects on the engine.

BTW there is a "spec" chicken. IIRC the spec says that the chicken must
be thoroughly thawed, it must hit the engine inlet at or above a certain
velocity, and it must be heavier than a stated minimum weight.

EJ in NJ