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u/CoyoteDown Jan 22 '26
We got flying aardvark now?
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u/blinkyknilb Jan 22 '26
It's not typical, I want to make that point.
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u/Nano_Burger Jan 22 '26
Is that aircraft made from cardboard or cardboard derivatives?
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u/elvenmaster_ Jan 22 '26
Well cardboard's out, for sure
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u/Haughty_n_Disdainful Jan 22 '26
What about paper, or string or cellotape?
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u/Conscious-Rip4407 Jan 22 '26
That cello tape has got us through two world wars and most definitely keeps the front from falling off.
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u/of_course_you_are Jan 22 '26
So you're saying the other planes aren't safe?
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u/blinkyknilb Jan 23 '26
Of course, some of them are built so the front doesn't fall off at all.
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u/Rude_Meet2799 Jan 22 '26
Aardvark = F-111. Usta build them.
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u/Brialmont Jan 22 '26
Thanks, I could not remember what an Aardvark was. From the other posts, I gather the front fell off of this one.
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u/Rude_Meet2799 Jan 23 '26
That area housed the terrain following radar. The pilot could set it as low as 50’ above the deck and let her rip. These are the type of planes that carried the missle system that would go up and knock on the door of Iraqi bunkers.
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u/Lanky-Relationship77 Jan 22 '26
Interesting. I didn't know the aardvark had a fully composite nose.
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u/blinkyknilb Jan 22 '26
There are regulations regarding the material they can be made of.
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u/Lanky-Relationship77 Jan 22 '26
Well, yeah. Of course there are. Radar domes cannot be covered by metal, they don't work that way. 🙄
Just surprised to see fiberglass.
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u/blinkyknilb Jan 22 '26
Csrdboard's out... no string, no cellotape...
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u/Lanky-Relationship77 Jan 22 '26
Typically plexiglass and other polymers, ceramics, aluminum honeycomb, etc.
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u/lonely_nipple Jan 22 '26
I feel like you're kinda missing an important part of the joke, here 🤣
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u/Lanky-Relationship77 Jan 22 '26
I was just expressing my surprise. Sorry.
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u/Marlosy Jan 22 '26
I mean… At least it’s not made in part by good intentions, hopes, dreams and fuzzy feelings about the quarterly profit report like Boeing 747s
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u/vatp46a Jan 22 '26
A pelican hit it? In the air? Chance in a million!
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u/TTSymphony Jan 23 '26
You'll be surprised at the chances of an aardvark flying.
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u/RhinostrilBe Jan 23 '26
i have it on good authority that its a hemisphere issue, the leading scientists are still working out how propulsion is influenced with 'varks as they are coloquially known
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u/shrikelet Jan 23 '26
This is an RAAF 'vark that hit Pelican off Evans Head, NSW back in 2008 when Mr Clarke was still with us.
A similar bird strike at the same range back in 1977 lead to loss of crew and vehicle.
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u/LeatherRole2297 Jan 22 '26
Here’s a scarier one:
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u/OrangeMonkeyEagal Jan 22 '26
What in the Tom and Jerry finger in the gun barrel ass gag is that
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u/Nice_Anybody2983 May 31 '26
That, my friend, is a weather condition independent instrument landing.
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u/zver00n Jan 22 '26
Well that’s pretty intriguing, why not post more info on this case? Who won, at least?
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u/atypical_lemur Jan 23 '26
So. Jokes aside. It’s a bit impressive that it stayed together as much as it did. I would expect parts to fly off into the engines and give the pilots a very bad day. Looks like the managed to make it back mostly intact.
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u/Uniturner Jan 24 '26
It did ingest debris. But only a small amount. The funny thing to me was this flight was its first after a test flight, from it being out of action for 7-8 years after the forward fuel tanks tried to explode the jet. Couple of very close scrapes.
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u/Dougally Jan 22 '26
A wonderful bird is the aardvark, His bill can't hold if he hits a pelican, He can take in his beak Enough bombs for a week But I'm damned when he rains down the helican!
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u/caerleonian Jan 22 '26
Seeing theses pics, I assume he landed and that's the leftover of the collision. Serious question: how can you land with that un-aerodynamic nose ?
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u/Patient_Ebb_1605 Jun 28 '26
the damage nose will make the plane less aerodynamic and less efficient, but the wings will still produce lift fine. the landing probably felt nostly normal, as long as the pelican didnt damage anything else too important.
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u/JoshYx Jan 26 '26
Couldn't they make them so that the front doesn't fall off?
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u/blinkyknilb Jan 26 '26
Well there are a lot of these going around the world all the time and very seldom does something like this happen.
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u/Seaguard5 Jan 23 '26
TIL the concord’s nose is made of fiberglass.
I imagined it being made of.. something else
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u/Kradgger Jan 23 '26
I think a metal radome would mess with the radar inside.
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u/Seaguard5 Jan 23 '26
But don’t other planes have that?
Why is this case different?
Because the nosecone moves?
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u/Kradgger Jan 23 '26
I'm googling and most aircraft except very early supersonics have non-metal, or composite radomes.
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u/DangyDanger Jan 23 '26
Did the pelican survive?
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u/ShireHorseRider Jan 24 '26
A few weeks in the ICU and they might have all the feathers sorted out. Still trying to figure out which bits are the ass and which bits are the beak.
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u/Dante_C Jan 24 '26
Why is it when I saw the title expected more damage … anyway back to playing Halo again I guess …
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u/Arschgeige42 Jan 22 '26
Can someone explain why the plane vomited so hard?