chicken cannon

English

Noun

chicken cannon (plural chicken cannons)

  1. A device used during aircraft testing to discharge bird carcasses into airframes and engines to determine resistance to such impacts.
    • 1987 November 22, “Military has long history of using animals”, in Atlanta Journal-Constitution, page A15:
      The Air Force has a device known as "the chicken cannon." Recently killed chickens are fired, feathers and all, from a converted cannon.
    • 2004, Mark Bryant (AP), "Boeing's surplus store is the 747 of garage sales," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 17 Feb:
      The most unusual thing sold is the "chicken cannon," a 10-foot-long pneumatic gun used at a test site to fire dead chickens at aircraft wings.

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