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Old 11-24-2002, 03:19 AM   #8
Nic Name
retired
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Toronto, Canada
Posts: 1,930
Quote:
Initial tests are done with subscale versions of the transparency at the University of Dayton Research Institute's impact physics lab. They fire gelatin-molded, artificial birds weighing four pounds apiece, out a compressed-air, 30-foot-barrel cannon, which can shoot at speeds up to 900 mph.

Three lasers and photodetectors measure the artificial chicken's velocity, while three cameras shoot the impact at 6,000 frames per second. Computers then create a 3-D, time-based deflection map of the strike and compare it to the computer simulation, which is usually very accurate.

After passing the institute's test, a validation trial is conducted at the Air Force Arnold Engineering Test Center, Tenn., using a real chicken. The Air Force buys commercial chickens, which are humanely destroyed before they're shot head-first, feathers and all, from the "rooster booster."
The whole messy story is here and here.
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