AEDC Ballistic Range S-3

AEDC Ballistic Range S-3 is a single stage air gun owned by the United States Air Force. The gun is commonly used for bird strike testing and is often called a chicken gun.

History

The first Range S-3 was developed by Eugene Sanders at the Arnold Engineering Development Complex for use in aircraft canopy testing.[1] The gun validated many of the canopies designs used on fighter aircraft over the last several decades. The range also played an instrumental role in developing the ASTM F330 specification: Standard Test Method for Bird Impact Testing of Aerospace Transparent Enclosures.

Capabilities

The gun uses a large compressed air reservoir to launch a projectile out of a 7-inch (180 mm) diameter barrel. Launch speeds of 200 to 1,400 ft/s (61 to 427 m/s) can be attained.[2] The barrel can also be reconfigured to launch square or rectangle projectiles. The most commonly used projectile is a dead chicken prepared in accordance with the ASTM specification.

See also

References
  1. "AEDC Fellows". 1 September 2011.
  2. "Arnold AFB test facilities capabilities, including range S3, Bird Impact Range" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 8, 2007. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
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