Bird-Resistant Jet Engines

I read this story in Gawker which detailed the slaughter of 400 Canadian geese to appease the nearby air traffic. To say this is a disappointing development would be an understatement. There is some merit to trying to preserve the lives of airline passengers, but this kind of remedy seems so archaic considering the technological age we live in.

What gets me is that this isn’t a new issue. It’s been happening since the beginning of flight.

So with all the improvements to airline safety - often in light of a major disaster - this area appears to be ignored. I’m sure it’s been looked at extensively, but the impression I’m getting is the aerospace community is resigned to maintaining the status-quo of crossing their fingers and hoping no birds get sucked into the engines, at least for the foreseeable future in aircraft design.

So I will take my first stab at trying to come up with a plausible solution, no easy task. I truly racked my brain on this. A few things to consider: no way any bird can survive any sort of impact with a plane traveling 500mph, so attempting to preserve both plane and bird is not possible. Secondly, the engines really can’t be moved anywhere. It would be nice to put them behind the wings and have them shielded somewhat, but this disrupts core plane design/functionality. Lastly, any solution is crap if it adds too much weight, impairs air flow, or adds too much wind resistance.

Before I address this design, let me describe a few other solutions which seemed obvious. First off was installing a domed screen that would cover the engine intake. Seemed like it would make sense, but would probably implode like an umbrella if struck and act like a cheese grater for hapless birds.

Next up was a deflector that was placed in front of the intake, which be mounted several feet in front of the opening. This would create a ‘wake’ that would push any foreign object outside the path of harms way, like a windshield in a convertible pushing the air flow over the passengers. Unfortunately this added wind resistance, disrupted air flow to the engine, and there was still a large opening for birds to get sucked in.

Then I thought of a large steel cone that would extrude from the intake, making the plane look like Madonna’s bra. This too limited the air intake.

So I settled on this design:

Basically, I wanted to preserve the air flow into the engine, but changed the behavior of the flow. Instead of a large, direct opening, I decided to create a number of side vents that would feed the engine. These vents would be staggered, which in theory would make it difficult for a bird to be directly sucked into one, as there would be many wakes over the face of the engine. Also, these individual vents would have an ‘S-shaped’ flow to the intake, with pockets to catch debris/birds. At worst, one vent would get clogged, the rest would continue to maintain air flow.

To put it another way, It would be like taking a Ferrari, sealing up the front grill, and adding a bunch of side scoops and vents to compensate for the air flow. Side scoops can be quite effective - you ever stick an open hand out the window of a moving car?

Of course, this is far from perfect. There would be some aerodynamic issues with this flower-y design. I imagine all the vent chambers would make this plane noisier too. The engines also have to be accessible for inspection, so making this a removable cover would prove to be difficult.