She's 6 and she told her farfar (me) this morning that it's the frogs (the amphibians, not that lot over there) which say "quack" in Denmark. She gets herself into hysterics when I try to pronounce some of the odder Danish words - thank God her dad is teaching her some English.

My favourite Danish town is Slagelse, pronounced slaylser and my all-time favourite Danish word is hygge which I understand to mean cosy and warm and at home with your loved ones. So it's not all Carls Ex, horned helmets and mucky books.

Indeed, Airsound, grandchildren are an unalloyed delight - with the added advantage that you can always hand them back... :ok:

Smashing read!!

Thanks, Glockenglanger. A thread over on Rotorheads today, made me think of that very tale. Spooky!! I hope that you will forgive a quick copy and paste.

Air clues
 

Much obliged Glockenklanger - marvellous read. A great example of 'pictures with words' - every copy writer's dream.

Whilst out walking with my hounds we are regularly overflown by gaggles of geese/ducks etc and there always seems to a heated debate regarding the nav skills on the bird at the head of the formation. The lord alone knows how they would cope if instructed to "maintain strict radio silence"!. I have had it suggested that the leader is the one with the map but I'm not so sure....

Thanks again,

Eagle402

Take a good look at those formations of geese - the leader keeps changing (like track cyclists) to spread the workload of lead bird around. I've not yet noticed a map changing wings...

Cats five,

I have indeed noticed a great deal of hand (feet?) overs at the head of the formation. The "I have control/you have control" is rather harsh on the ears mind !

Regards,

Eagle402

Trivia........
 

................for you but the migrating geese flying from Iceland to Scotland do it in under a day in normal conditions and can get quite high too in the cruise :8:8

http://www.wildlife-art-paintings.co...inkies_650.jpg

Glad rag,

Cheers for that but let us pray that your mention of 'high in the cruise' does not draw (like moth's to a flame) the gaggle of core icing argumentalists across from the G-YMMM thread especially as the more determined of them is from that Scandiwegia!

Imagine the scene :

AIIB (Geese Division) will now call Flying Officer Honk to give his evidence to the panel....the CVR shows that you were commanded by the Quacktain to feather the port engine after the FADUCKS appeared to malfunction just after you squawked FL150

I'm sure that the usual suspects on here can develop this in a much wittier style than myself....

Eagle

And don't forget they do those 'big battle' V-formations to save energy. Everyone except the leader is getting a bit of extra lift off the wingtip vortices of the one in echelon ahead. So apart from handing over the navigation, the leader is also taking a rest when he/she? hands over.

There was talk a while ago of transatlantic airliners doing the same thing to save fuel - ooer missus.

airsound

Wader 2 said....
"I have a pair of pigeons outside my office using a dense bush as a nesting site for the second year running. They have actually created a runway but like Gibraltar the winds on approach are variable.

A landing usually includes a steep 40 degree approach with starboard wing fold just beofre touchdown. Aerodynamic and arrested braking is achieved with the left wing fully spread and engaging on the branches to the left.

They then back up slightly, complete wing fold, and then taxi into the hangar "


Aviate adds...
My office door plus bird seed device. Squirrels are not welcome.
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k3...Pigeonpath.jpg

Pigeon Flight path, red and arrival at a red X. Wind change - blue.
Pigeon tumble spot - green

Well my pigeons like to nick the small birds seed [if they can] by approaching as per the pic but the other day the winds were swirly and just as one pigeon made his approach, the wind swirled and he was suddenly downwind and he swivelled into wind and tried the big two wing airbrake/harrier megaflap but stalled in an untidy tumbling heap. A second later he made a brilliant recovery and sped off as if nothing had happened. But I saw it, just didn't have a camera to hand.

Bird behaviour
 

The funniest sight I remember was when walking from the mess to the airfield at Bishops Court many years ago, when a gull landed on telephone wires, and promptly fell off. the bird's language did not need any translation.

We have a small lake maybe 80 yards long on 36/18. On the 36 overshoot is a strand of trees some 60-70 feet tall and only 20 yards beyond the lake. On the day in question an isolated pair of geese had made a successful landing on 36 but later decided to depart.

The male, clearly the flight commander (2-ship only) led the goose down the waterway. Unfortunately they took an excessively long take-off run and failed to gain sufficient height to clear the obstruction and had insufficient airspeed to execute a 180 turn down wing. There was only one possible course of action.

The honking from back to front had to be heard to be believed as they broke through the trees at barely 30 feet before continuing to climb to avoid the houses.

Similar problem to aviate's here. Fat Albert pigeon would squat inside and gobble all the seed put out for the small birds. Strung some twine around all access points which caused FA to re-evaluate his landing somewhat quickly aborting at the last moment. Luckily I had my camera ready . . .

http://www.canberra.plus.com/pics/bird3.jpg

FA spent about an hour trying different approaches before giving up. Managed to get a whole sequence of shots. Well, I'm retired now and it was fun. :E


:ok:

On the subject of our feathered friends, this is an impressive achievement for such a small bird. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/mai...3/eabird23.xml

From the number of posts indicating clumsy flying by pigeons, it strikes me that there may be either a training issue at the OTUs or an equipment specification problem. This morning's display inclines me to the view that the fault lies with the OTUs in that the pilots are over-confident of the performance of their personal equipment and thus take too many risks. (Isn't that always the case?)

Back to the story. This morning, as I was making my first coffee, I noticed our resident wood pigeon (also Fat Albert - I wonder why?) making a rapid but short take-off from the lawn, having generously refuelled on the raisins put out for the blackbirds. He was a little too close to the garage for real comfort and consequently was trying very hard to gain altitude, presumably concentrating on clearing the garage roof. His acceleration was helped by the lawn's downward slope but that feature also meant that he needed more height. As he climbed out, it rapidly became obvious that he was going to be very close to another fixed obstacle in the form of the washing line which he would have to fly over if he was to clear the garage. Flying beneath was not an option as not even his formidable TOGA power would enable him to avoid the brickwork.

Although for safety reasons the washing line is orange in colour, hit it he did, despite deploying airbrake and undercarriage and attempting a 180-degree stall turn to return to the runway. He caught the line somewhere around his starboard wingroot and, completely losing control, crashed heavily behind the garage. On investigating, I found him to be undamaged except in the dignity area and shaking his head, Albert took off downwind, landing carefully in a tree to attend to his flying surfaces and thank Our Lady of Loreto... :ok:

Not remotely wishing to hijack the thread -- mods please move if required -- but what's the highest anyone's ever encountered a bird? Any advance on buzzards at about 3,500ft?

I've seen Alpine Choughs at the top of the Aiguille Midi in France (3,800m). They nest up there safe from predators, fly down into the valleys to feed in the morning and then ride the thermals back up to their nests. They are also a very attractive bird with a striking metallic clatter of a voice.

However that's far below the record. If you do a Google for 'bird flight records' you find the following:

http://www.earthlife.net/birds/records.html

"Highest recorded flight = Ruppell's Griffon Vulture Gyps ruepellii recorded flying at 11,277m/37,000ft, at this height human beings would die from lack of air."

Now I've no idea if this is a good source or not, but I've heard that some species migrate over the Himalayas, and also that migrating swans have been seen at very high altitudes to the NW of the UK.

The new trend to follow bird migration by fitting some birds with minature GPS receivers might shed more light over the coming years.

DC-10 Bay of Biscay FL 280 one migrating goose in centre engine 1993