RE: anyone ever hit a bird??
I saw a film on a Hang Glider pilot who flew with Eagles. After having one particular bird come out to play and follow him around, getting pretty close at times, and seemingly trying to land on top, he rigged a perch on top of the wing,
thinking the Eagle might land and hold on, and he did. After that first ride, each time the pilot took his Hang Glider out into the Eagle's territory the old boy would come out to play and latch on. It was a sight to see, that Hang Glider soaring around those canyons with that big bird perched up top, it's wings outstretched. This was not a tame bird either. He probably just liked Hang Gliders and enjoyed letting some one else do the flying now and then.
And while not related to the original query...one day I went out to fly an Astro Electric and my daughter came along. She was sitting on top of my pickup. It was late afternoon and I was doing lazy circles above the strip when she yelled "Don't hit the birdy Dad! At that instant two passing Egrets took evasive action to avoid a collision with my plane!
We have lots of Egrets around, which we call "Cowbirds" as they are mostly found in pastures with livestock, feeding on insects. Late afternoons they head for their night roosting spots, usually in swampy areas full of trees. These two were not with the "main body" I had seen higher up. They were coming in on an angle probably to catch up with them.
After the "near miss" one of them banked shaply and pulled in alongside my plane. It was grey colored, same as my model, and I thought it was going to attack, which is not common to these birds. But it leveled off on my left wing and flew a couple of circuits with me, it's head turned towards my plane as if giving it a good look see, maybe flirting with it! Well, it was grey, my plane was grey, and it
was very quiet...electric, remember? Maybe the Cow Bird thought the motor hum
was a song?
After few rounds he pulled up and banked away heading back to catch up with his friend orbiting about 50 yards over, waiting for him...or her? Not as exciting as a strike, but it was an interesting few minutes, and my daughter got a whole new perspective on Dad's toys. I got a few seconds to appreciate watching a beautiful bird slow flying down low with my model. That don't happen every day!