European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 5, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Daily Magazine air to air combat airlines fight the Feather curtain by Donald Frederick National geographic the annual Spring and fall migrations that set Bird lovers hearts aflutter give some aviation officials worries about aircraft hitting Birds Are heightened As Canadian Bird expert Victor Solma puts much of the migration occurs at at altitudes of up to although modern airline travel is above that each aircraft has to go up and Down through this Feather curtain on each collisions Between Birds and a planes last year Cost the civil aviation Industry about million in engine and other damage and Cost the air Force More than both military and civilian aircraft have crashed As a result of such the migrations Are Only part of a year round prob says Michael a biologist with the Federal aviation roughly Mili tary and civilian Bird strikes were reported last and most of them occurred near airports and at altitudes below Birds love most airports because Many provide and fresh a flock of sea for might Dine at a nearby Wash Down their meal with water from puddles at the and Settle Down for the night on the comparatively warm runway or the Flat roofed for their overnight waterfowl prefer the tall grasses Between the starlings and blackbirds prefer the surrounding in an attempt to discourage their unwelcome Airport officials have tried filling in decorative cutting Down and trimming the Birds usually come food is sometimes the at Many such As Baltimore Washington International heavy Rains bring out the a thriving population of Meadow mice in the Grassy areas at Portland International Airport proved irresistible to working Airport and fish and wildlife service personnel trapped Many of the Hawks and moved them to Safe sanctuaries about 50 Miles they exterminated most of the Meadow but Birds that bother airports often enjoy their most Bountiful banquets at nearby landfills or garbage we cant do much about facilities that Are already outside Airport can discourage new ones from springing says one relatively new technique that seems to discourage gulls and crows from visiting landfills is a Grid of parallel wires Strung 20 feet about 20 to 30 feet above a tried experimentally at landfills near and Niagara the grids proved although a South Carolina biologist the wires had to be replaced on a few occasions when broken by Turkey finding some Way to discourage gulls would please the which estimates that they Are responsible for almost half the Bird strikes in the United besides altering landscapes at and near officials have tried to discourage winged Visi tors with rubber stuffed trained and strings of at London Heathrow loud Rock music sometimes does the the Only technique that consistently shoos them away is a combination of explosive noise and distress says Sam who is in charge of Bird control at John Kennedy International Airport in new one of the few airports in the country with a full time staff devoted to Bird Juk is located near a wildlife a major migratory and two As a Chevalier and his staff keep patrol Ling the Airport from Dawn to dusk in cars equipped loudspeakers that broadcast Bird distress they Are constantly on the Lookout for flocks that might endanger takeoffs or when curious Birds hear a distress they approach the car to find out whats then someone fires a noisy Blank Shell that explodes among the that usually disperses but on rare occasions when the Birds persist we sometimes have to reinforce their learning Cycle by killing one of says Cheva seagulls cause Chevalier the most in the last few a dozen pairs of laughing gulls up residence in a part of the Refuge near one runways have multiplied to More than laughing gulls were responsible for Many of the 287 Bird strikes recorded at Juk last but the most happened away from the Airport when a 747 jumbo Jet hit migrating geese and had to turn Back for engine engines of both civilian and military aircraft Are de signed to withstand even multiple Bird an air Cannon known As the rooster Booster tests All Proto Type engines by hurling dead Birds usually chickens i against them at speeds up to 700 because its aircraft go so fast and have become involved in More Low level the air Force also has become increasingly concerned about strengthening windshields and Many fighter planes have been retrofitted with wind Shields that can withstand four Pound Bird strikes at 575 were testing windshields that can endure strikes of More than 600 reports Bill Van Buskirk of Goodyear one of the first doing Windshield and canopy pilots Are enthusiastic about the Birds that hit aircraft flying at High speeds can be As deadly As a Small on Pound Bird that strikes a Jet going 600 Mph hits with an Impact of More than pounds impacts exceeding pounds from larger Birds Are not Strobe lights that would warn Birds away Are being tested on some air Force but the Best Hope May be the next generation weather radar Neurad now being we might be Able to tie it into a compute so automatic warnings could be sent to pilots around the says Michael Thompson of the air forces Bird aircraft strike Hazard Bash team at Tyndall air Force base in even Neurad int expected to prevent All Bird strikes or Freak accidents such As the one that took place Over Texas a few years when an amazed Pilot saw a Snake splatter against his window while cruising along at it had been dropped by a Bird that was frantically trying to evade the i 1f i seagulls and a jetliner Battle for airspace Over new Yorks Kennedy june the stars and stripes National geographic photo Page 13