Birds and Aeros

[Lister Noble]

Summer idle thoughts.
I was having coffee in the garden this morning and noticed a pigeon doing their normal flap wing swoop and dive courtship display,and I realised he was actually doing a stall with a quick recovery.
We have swallows and swifts overhead,they are highly agile with stall turns ,90 degree banks and wingovers.
We have barn owls fly through the meadow low,slow and very quiet.

I'm sure they all fly for fun as well as food ,when food is abundant.

Are there any birds that can do the full aero sequence,rolls etc?
Lister:);)

[ShyTorque]

Rooks and Lapwings, for a start.

Also many birds preying on other birds, such as Peregrine Falcons. ****e hawks sometimes do aeros, too.

[Lister Noble]

Most of the ****e hawks I know sit behind desks.:}

[Papa Charlie]

Are there any birds that can do the full aero sequence,rolls etc?

Richard Bach's Jonathan Seagull.... :ok:

I have watched swans doing some sort of a circuit before landing on a river/lake. Definitely a downwind bit and then turning into wind for a well positioned flare. They must have great instructors! :)

[Ultranomad]

Haven't observed any real aerobatics but saw birds imitating the aircraft. Once it was a hawk doing turns right under me (I was in the early hours of my flight training), and another time it was some thrush-sized bird hovering (!) in the area typically used for the same purpose by helicopter students. And I thought only hummingbirds could hover.

[Bravo73]

Most of the ****e hawks I know sit behind desks.:}

Not that one. Haven't you noticed his username? ;)

[Airbus Girl]

I've had some Egyptian vultures circling in a thermal with me....

[Miserlou]

I seem to remember Jonathan being a speed freak. It was another bird, Fletcher perhaps, who was the aerobat.

I also seem to remember Bach being rather disappointed with seagulls. From the book 'A Gift of Wings', he makes a damning accusation to the extent that if ever there was a bird designed for aeros, then it is the seagull. They never summon up the nerve to keep pulling over the top.

The albatross, however does a passable spilt S but there is doubt as to whether to include him as he usually doesn't really pull through but recovers below sea level, albeit with fish in mouth.

[Papa Charlie]

Miserlou, you're right. Fletcher Seagull "loved aerobatics and conquered his sixteen-point vertical slow roll...." :D

[Arclite01]

More importantly Lister - how did your gliding go ???

Arc

[Lister Noble]

Arc,
I have not done it yet,been busy with other things including the Cub, but hope to go sometime this week.
I will post after the lesson.
Lister

[Lister Noble]

Bravo 73,
Shy Torque-just got it,must be old age!;)

[n5296s]

Crows are great aerobats. I once watched one pull vertical then fold a single wing and do a sort of combined hammerhead (stall turn) and snap roll. I've been trying to figure out how to do one in the Pitts ever since. (The lack of folding wings is a handicap).

I'm not a big fan of crows in general, but I love watching them fly.

n5296s

[ShyTorque]

Shy Torque-just got it,must be old age!

:eek: But I'm not that old....

;)

[Sir George Cayley]

There is a bird that 'tumbles' whilst airborne, but I can't remeber if it's a Dove or a Pigeon.

Grouse and ducks tend to tumble too, but that's for an entirely different reason

Also, I have asked a few birds if they would like a tumble, but amazingly none ever have said yes.:ugh:

Sir George

[ShyTorque]

YouTube - Re: Wholly Rollers are Birmingham Rollers (http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WGwDOzpTcgs)

[Arclite01]

Hey Lister

Did you know I'm back in Norfolk ?? - we'll have to arrange a trip in the Cub !!

cheers

Arc

[Lister Noble]

Arc,great news that you are back.
I've just been flying the Cub this morning,it's a bit bumpy!
Tomorrow pm I have my first glider lesson at Tibbenham,I'm now a man of leisure so just give me a call when you want to meet up, I will pm you my number.
Lister:)

[Rocket2]

"Grouse and ducks tend to tumble too, but that's for an entirely different reason"
Yup they're usually full of buckshot.
Seem to recall watching Rooks (or Ravens) looping & rolling while soaring the hangers in Goose Bay - maybe it was too much Screech though :yuk:
Had a Buzzard spin while it was soaring alongside me once in a strong thermal - we were both watching each other but I was (deliberatly) slowing down to see how slow it would go. Said bird lowered full flap & wobbled a bit then departed rapidly leaving loads of feathers in it's wake :oh:

[C152_driver]

I've been trying to figure out how to do one in the Pitts ever since. (The lack of folding wings is a handicap).


Have you considered increasing the entry speed and pulling harder? :p

[Lister Noble]

Arc,
Had my first gliding lesson this afternoon,towed by a Robin (big birds in Norfolk!) to 2000 feet and total flight time 24 mins.We did general handling including steep turns and stalls.
It was bloody marvellous,a bit like the Cub to fly,I flew from when we dropped the tow until just before touchdown,the instructor worked the airbrake.
I might go again tomorrow weather permitting!
Lister:ok:

[SystemsAreGo]

I would love to see some big bird do a lomcevak, or perhaps an avalanche. The bald eagle doing a display over Oshkosh would be bad ass..:}

[youngskywalker]

I dont see any real problem, as long as they wear a good supporting bra...

[will fly for food 06]

I have had birds of prey formate while I am soaring in a thermal. Its a great sight to look over your shoulder and see one just off the wing tip.

[False Capture]

Ravens do great rolls of the top and monster side-slips.

Bats (admittedly not part of the bird family:8) do very respectable lazy eights when chasing insects.

[SNS3Guppy]

It wasn't a bird, but I watched a housefly make it all the way across the atlantic a few days ago. Not only did it go the distance, but did so while evading multiple attemps to reconfigure it as a sheet of paper. Now that's impressive.

[The Flying Pram]

Watched a couple of Marsh Harriers recently, and one of them repeatedly rolled inverted underneath the other.

[stiknruda]

and one of them repeatedly rolled inverted underneath the other.

very bad formation form - to intentionally GO BLIND!

Our formation display has the top aircraft roll inverted on the down 45 line and #2 slide into mirror, Lead calls "push" as he transitions to inverted S& L. This way they both see each other and #2 knows when to expect to pull.

Doing it blind would be "weigh too dangerous":p:p

[The Flying Pram]

Unlike your Pitts they do have the advantage of being able to look straight down (or up if inverted)! Some years back I watched a Crow land on a fence post in a VERY strong wind. It was actually flying backwards with respect to the ground, and looking down between its legs to keep the post in view. Suffice to say it made a perfect landing. Clever b*ggers, birds.....

[Hyperborean]

Harriers (feathered variety) roll inverted as part of the feeding routine. The female stays on or close to the nest whilst the male hunts. When he returns with prey she takes off, he positions below and rolls. She then takes the prey from his talons and returns to base. So not just aeros but air to air refuelling too. My own favourites are fulmars, not particularly aerobatic but absolute control mastery. Watch them slope soaring along a cliff edge, they change aspect ratio and chord length of each wing independently and drop their feet as differential air brakes for control in yaw only. You can also see how close to the stall they fly as the upper wing feathers just ruffle at times as the airflow begins to become turbulent.

[Windy Militant]

Didn't some University build a model Seagull and flew aeros with it in the midst a flock of real gulls to see if they would start to mimic the behavior.
I seem to recall it was the same mob that built a model pterodactyl.