this post was submitted on 08 Feb 2025
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No Stupid Questions

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Maybe even auto laser-turrets for more epic-ness?

Since we have such a shitshow of a US government, can someone tell the new FAA person to add turrets to planes? Ya know, 'Murica 2nd Amendment and all... 👀

Surely, nothing will ever go wrong with this? Right?

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (4 children)

The bullets that don't hit the birds would rain down on populated areas.
Bird strikes happen at lower altitudes and airliners fly much higher than birds unless they're taking off or landing, and they almost always takeoff or land near a populated area.
More people would die on average from stay bullets then from airplane crates caused my bird strikes

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But, what's your take on the lasers though? 🤔

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

You'd need chemical lasers to quickly vaporize birds, but it could be done.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (4 children)

What’s the terminal velocity of a bullet? My guess is that it’s similar to the terminal velocity of a penny.

In other words, raining bullets are highly unlikely to directly kill anyone (although they could still sting if they hit you, or chip your windshield).

They could use ice bullets and solve that problem though….

[–] ThrowawayPermanente 3 points 2 days ago

That depends mostly on their size, as size is reduced mass decreases faster than drag. Smaller birdshot is no longer dangerous after a couple hundred yards while large rifle bullets can kill even after traveling several miles.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Yup… but they make noise and leave a lovely contrail.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

You are incorrect. Many people have been killed by bullets falling back to earth. There is even a law in Arizona named after a little girl killed that way.

Shooting guns in the air should result in prison and lifetime forfeiture of the privilege to own firearms. It’s irresponsible and extremely negligent.

And I’m not anti-gun. I own 3 and enjoy target shooting. What I am, is anti-gun ownership by morons.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Terminal velocity is really only relevant for objects that go below terminal velocity and then start falling. Bullets famously come out of guns very fast, so fast they go into people.

While air will slow the bullet down, tell that to the guy over over 2 miles away from Viacheslav Kovalskyi

Now, bird shot ain't sniper rounds, but the point stands.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Bullets also famously come out of guns horizontally. As they travel, their horizontal speed decreases due to friction (slowly) and their horizontal speed accelerates until it hits terminal velocity.

Now one point here is that the only place where you’d be shooting at birds is during takeoff and landing; this is near the ground, and in both cases, the aircraft is nose up — which means the bullet wouldn’t be traveling at height until it lost momentum and fell, but would instead follow an arc that would still likely preserve a lot of forward momentum as the bullet approached the surface of the earth.

But it’s not falling bullets that are dangerous; it’s bullets moving forward with velocity that cause damage.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

Easy, use dry ice bullets!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

The bullets that don’t hit the birds would rain down on populated areas.

So... just your average Fourth of July celebrations?

🇺🇸🦅🎆💥🪦

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I have a better idea….why not cover up the front of the engines so the blades aren’t exposed. Let’s face it, it’s really dangerous having that area open like it is.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

xD

Better make the seal airtight just in case

😉

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

That might do something about the fact that they’re so noisy…

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

Why not just have a guy with a shotgun riding in a lawn chair bolted to the wing?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Their actually isn't a statistics large amount of aviation incident recently. Its like a couple years back when everyone was freaked out about shark attacks despite them being no more command than usual.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Yeah, that one at Reagan was just especially tragic and in a wild week.

Any repercussions of the gutting of the FAA and similar crap from the administration will likely take more time to become apparent, as the general air traffic control system becomes less regulated

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Good news: Not only do we have BirdStrikes, but also CrowdStrikes

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (3 children)

Something to think about. It's us invading THEIR airspace. NOT the other way around.

[–] ThrowawayPermanente 3 points 2 days ago

It belongs to whoever can take and hold it

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Well... they say "might makes right"

Turns the key on the control panel in the nuclear missile silo

And that the "end justifies the means"

🚀🌇

[–] SomeAmateur 2 points 2 days ago

On the other hand fuck pigeons and seagulls

[–] lurch 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (2 children)

I bet it's much cheaper to just let people die in the occasional plane crash, than to add weight to each plane.

[–] SomeAmateur 3 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Spoken like a real shareholder

[–] lurch 1 points 2 days ago

the shareholders usually don't get much. the top managers are the ones filling their pockets. sometimes the top managers also own shares tho

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

Or just add a bomb that can be remotely detonated, so whenever an accident happens, they can detonate the bomb and shift the blame from the regulators / aircraft manufacturer to "terrorism", then they can pass another ~~Patriot Act~~ Enabling Act to combat terrorism.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago (2 children)

That would be cool. Boringly though, there are safer ways as well. Birds tend to be scared of loud bangs, so you could scare them away with just sounds.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

“Passengers, please disregard the banging noises. That’s totally normal.”

[–] SomeAmateur 4 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Never understood why they can’t make a missile detect this and just aim for the center point where all the heat / chaff / IR is coming from.

[–] SomeAmateur 2 points 1 day ago

The pilots would be evading hard so the center is moving around a lot too

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago

Now that you put it that way, it’s mildly terrifying.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

So we shoot blanks at them to get the loud noise without having to be accurate or use live ammo, got it

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

And in fact, this is exactly what airports already do.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 days ago

The intake of a jet engine can kill birds a dozen at a time. The exhaust can drive them extinct. A turret would be just showing off.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 days ago (1 children)

If anything like this was ever done it's more likely it would be independent drones flying ahead of the plane at its 10 and 2 o'clock

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 days ago (1 children)

But then you don't get 'Murican style 2nd Amendment epic movie-style action 🇺🇸🦅🎆

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

You do if those drones lay down firepower to clear the airspace for the aircraft.

And as a side benefit, the drones stay in the ATC zones where aircraft go through bird airspace, so you don’t have weapons on foreign planes AND you can shoot down anything else that makes it into the aircraft’s collision zone, like other drones, balloons or military helicopters.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 2 days ago

Not soon enough.