Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Birds with the Widest Wings Use Ground Affect

There are so many things to do in your retirement and I have decided to travel the country in a motor home and I have now been to all the states and every city over 5000 population. I have also been to every State Park and I have found fun in observing everything that I was too busy to look at while I was working my butt off. You tend to notice thanks in nature when your mind is free.

One observation that I have had and I am sure others have too is that the birds with the largest and widest wings tend to spend most of their time flying close to the ground. It seems as if their wings serve as ground affect and that they are able to fly on the cushion of air they create. When they come in for landing they may go 10 or more yards only inches off the ground before they glide to a stop.

This is interesting because aircraft with the largest wings also get a significant advantage in ground affect when landing. Low wing aircraft tend to have much smoother landings that high wing aircraft and they need less of a beefy landing gear. Next time you watch birds fly very low to the ground for a very long period of time check and see if you noticed what I have?

The bird will have a larger and/or wider wings than similar sized birds. Indeed, many people find it bird watching rather boring and I guess I understand why, but I also would like to tell all of them that; All Life Is Interesting. Please consider this in 2006.






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