Think Airplanes are Cool?

tonyw

tonyw

Well-Known Member
They ain't got nothing on animals that fly. Check this out.

http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6312

A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.

The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

Select military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G. Many birds routinely experience positive G-forces greater than 10 G and up to 14 G.
 
Of course I still think airplanes are cool! Those are some interesting stats, but then again, life forms are extremely difficult to replicate, so what can you do?
 
I guess they haven't seen me fly the ERJ before... 14 G's weak... On a serious note that is pretty impressive...
 
tonyw said:
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.
Click to expand...

I don't know how many of you have gotten to see a barn swallow fly. When I was a kid (mid last century) and was plowing a field there would be close to a hundred of them around me. And they'd be putting on an air show catching the bugs I was stirring up with the tractor and plow.

Now it's a rare sight to see a barn swallow, much less a hundred.

The bird equivalent of a Spitfire. Light and can turn on a dime.
 
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