The Chicken Cannon
Canada’s supersonic chicken cannon
In this episode of Canada Is Boring, we dive beak-first into one of the strangest and most important inventions in Canadian aviation history: the Chicken Cannon.
As bird strikes continue to threaten aircraft worldwide, with over 50 bird strikes happening every day and more than 13,000 reported annually in the U.S. alone, engineers needed a way to test aircraft safety against high-speed avian impacts. The result? A gas-powered “flight impact simulator” capable of firing thawed chickens at aircraft parts at supersonic speeds.
Developed in the 1960s after two deadly U.S. crashes caused by flocks of starlings and whistling swans, Canada’s chicken cannon became a critical tool in aviation safety. Built in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and operated at Ottawa’s Macdonald-Cartier Airport, this monster of a machine launched 1–8 pound birds at aircraft windshields, engines, and stabilizers to replicate real-world bird strikes. At its peak, the cannon could fire a chicken at Mach 1.36, making it, unofficially, the fastest chicken ever recorded.
We explore the odd science behind impact testing, the physics of bird strikes, and the messy origin of the word “snarge.” From frozen chickens in metal sabots to high-speed film, atomic pacemaker tests, and a parking-lot incident that left VIP guests covered in poultry debris, this is one of the wildest pieces of Canadian engineering ever built.
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