NASA Chicken Gun
Encyclopedia
A chicken gun is a large diameter compressed air cannon used to test the strength of aircraft
windshield
s and the safety of jet engines. A common danger to aircraft is that they collide with birds in flight. Most parts of an aircraft are strong enough to resist such a bird strike
. Jet engines may sustain serious damage, however, and cockpit windows are necessarily made of transparent materials and are a vulnerable spot.
The chicken gun is designed to simulate high speed bird impacts. It is named after its unusual ammunition: a whole dead standard-sized chicken
, as would be used for cooking. This has been found to accurately simulate a large, live bird in flight. The test target is fixed in place on a test stand, and the cannon is used to fire the chicken into the engine, windshield, or other test structure.
The gun is driven from a compressed air tank. In the 1970s Goodyear Aerospace
in Litchfield Park, Arizona
, United States
, used a gun with a ceramic
diaphragm
to seal the compressed air in the tank from the gun's barrel. To fire the gun, a solenoid
-driven needle struck and ruptured the diaphragm, allowing the compressed air to drive the chicken (in its container - a cylindrical cardboard ice cream carton) down the barrel. At the muzzle, a metal ring stopped the carton, but allowed the chicken to pass through. Slow-motion cameras photographed the chicken impacting a fighter windshield in the test bed. These cameras were started in time with the breaking of the diaphragm.
, Hatfield
, United Kingdom
. It was fired with a correct count down from a 'pill box' housed in the woods at de Havilland's. The chickens were killed shortly before firing and obtained from a local farm also at the edge of the woods. After firing the jet engines were taken away and examined for damage. High speed cameras recorded the complete action.
Another early use of a chicken gun was by the Royal Aeronautical (Aircraft) Establishment (RAE)
in Farnborough
, UK in 1961.
The United States Air Force
commissioned the AEDC Ballistic Range S-3
to test airplane canopies. The gun was later used to test other aircraft parts such as the leading edges of wings.
about the gun being loaned to some other agency, who fired frozen chickens instead of thawed chickens.
On MythBusters
, a chicken gun was used in various experiments. The experiments conducted used both frozen and thawed chickens to test the cockpit window of a private aircraft.
The 1970s test of the British High Speed Train
windscreens used the Farnborough chicken gun and expertise, not NASA based expertise, busting the Mythbusters myth relating to NASA telling the British "defrost the chickens first".
The CBC
comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce
used to regularly use a chicken cannon to shoot rubber chickens and other projectiles at pictures of newsmakers.
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
windshield
Windshield
The windshield or windscreen of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike or tram is the front window. Modern windshields are generally made of laminated safety glass, a type of treated glass, which consists of two curved sheets of glass with a plastic layer laminated between them for safety, and are glued...
s and the safety of jet engines. A common danger to aircraft is that they collide with birds in flight. Most parts of an aircraft are strong enough to resist such a bird strike
Bird strike
A bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, avian ingestion , bird hit, or BASH —is a collision between an airborne animal and a man-made vehicle, especially aircraft...
. Jet engines may sustain serious damage, however, and cockpit windows are necessarily made of transparent materials and are a vulnerable spot.
The chicken gun is designed to simulate high speed bird impacts. It is named after its unusual ammunition: a whole dead standard-sized chicken
Chicken
The chicken is a domesticated fowl, a subspecies of the Red Junglefowl. As one of the most common and widespread domestic animals, and with a population of more than 24 billion in 2003, there are more chickens in the world than any other species of bird...
, as would be used for cooking. This has been found to accurately simulate a large, live bird in flight. The test target is fixed in place on a test stand, and the cannon is used to fire the chicken into the engine, windshield, or other test structure.
The gun is driven from a compressed air tank. In the 1970s Goodyear Aerospace
Goodyear Aerospace
Goodyear Aerospace Corporation was the aerospace and defense subsidiary of Goodyear.-Early Years:The company began as Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Aeronautics Department and renamed in 1917 as the Goodyear Zeppelin Corporation set up to construct dirigibles for the US military...
in Litchfield Park, Arizona
Litchfield Park, Arizona
Litchfield Park is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. In 2010 it had a population of 5,476.-History:The town of Litchfield Park is named for its founder, Paul Weeks Litchfield...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, used a gun with a ceramic
Ceramic
A ceramic is an inorganic, nonmetallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous...
diaphragm
Diaphragm seal
A diaphragm seal is a flexible membrane that seals and isolates an enclosure. The flexible nature of this seal allows pressure effects to cross the barrier but not the material being contained....
to seal the compressed air in the tank from the gun's barrel. To fire the gun, a solenoid
Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
-driven needle struck and ruptured the diaphragm, allowing the compressed air to drive the chicken (in its container - a cylindrical cardboard ice cream carton) down the barrel. At the muzzle, a metal ring stopped the carton, but allowed the chicken to pass through. Slow-motion cameras photographed the chicken impacting a fighter windshield in the test bed. These cameras were started in time with the breaking of the diaphragm.
Uses
The chicken gun was first used in the mid 1950s at de Havilland AircraftDe Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
, Hatfield
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. It was fired with a correct count down from a 'pill box' housed in the woods at de Havilland's. The chickens were killed shortly before firing and obtained from a local farm also at the edge of the woods. After firing the jet engines were taken away and examined for damage. High speed cameras recorded the complete action.
Another early use of a chicken gun was by the Royal Aeronautical (Aircraft) Establishment (RAE)
Royal Aircraft Establishment
The Royal Aircraft Establishment , was a British research establishment, known by several different names during its history, that eventually came under the aegis of the UK Ministry of Defence , before finally losing its identity in mergers with other institutions.The first site was at Farnborough...
in Farnborough
Farnborough, Hampshire
-History:Name changes: Ferneberga ; Farnburghe, Farenberg ; Farnborowe, Fremborough, Fameborough .Tower Hill, Cove: There is substantial evidence...
, UK in 1961.
The United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
commissioned the AEDC Ballistic Range S-3
AEDC Ballistic Range S-3
AEDC Ballistic Range S-3 is a single stage air gun owned by the United States Air Force and operated by Aerospace Testing Alliance. The gun is commonly used for bird strike testing and is often called a chicken gun.- History :...
to test airplane canopies. The gun was later used to test other aircraft parts such as the leading edges of wings.
Pop culture
There is a longstanding urban legendUrban legend
An urban legend, urban myth, urban tale, or contemporary legend, is a form of modern folklore consisting of stories that may or may not have been believed by their tellers to be true...
about the gun being loaned to some other agency, who fired frozen chickens instead of thawed chickens.
On MythBusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
, a chicken gun was used in various experiments. The experiments conducted used both frozen and thawed chickens to test the cockpit window of a private aircraft.
The 1970s test of the British High Speed Train
InterCity 125
The InterCity 125 was the brand name of British Rail's High Speed Train fleet. The InterCity 125 train is made up of two power cars, one at each end of a fixed formation of Mark 3 carriages, and is capable of , making the train the fastest diesel-powered locomotive in regular service in the...
windscreens used the Farnborough chicken gun and expertise, not NASA based expertise, busting the Mythbusters myth relating to NASA telling the British "defrost the chickens first".
The CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
comedy series Royal Canadian Air Farce
Royal Canadian Air Farce
Air Farce Live, also credited as Air Farce, previously Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Air Farce—Final Flight! for the final season, was a Canadian comedy series starring the comedy troupe The Royal Canadian Air Farce that previously starred in an eponymous radio show on CBC radio from 1973 to 1997...
used to regularly use a chicken cannon to shoot rubber chickens and other projectiles at pictures of newsmakers.