A flight to remember

[Mi Vida Loca]

I was having a discussion today with a non pilot after I had finished flying. He asked if I had a favorite memory from flying. After going through several dozen flights that could qualify I settled on one that happened about 4 years ago.

I had gone out one Sunday morning for a dawn patrol. It was about an hour after sun up and I was at about 1500' AGL when I noticed a formation of 8 large birds migrating south for the winter.

It was a particularly beautiful sight that morning and after circling around about a mile away I decided to see just how close I could get. The flight was making remarkably good speed and I was able to slow to just under 60 to hold position about 1/2 mile away.

After about a min I got a little more aggressive about this. Formation flight is my true passion in flight. I worked in fairly slowly until I was about 200' out. The leader thought this was more than close enough for this strange noisy bird and altered course about 15 degrees away from me. I likewise turned away from them and opened up the gap. They immediately returned to their original course. Again I moved back in and again at about 200' they swung away. I moved back out again and again they resumed their course. The formation was beautiful. They held a nearly perfect formation even though disturbed and making turns away from and back onto course. They returned each time to the exact course that had previously on. I decided to take a third and last attempt to join their formation. This time I was just a little farther back than before. I was about even with the #3 bird where previously I had been up even with the leader. This time at 200' they just looked over and continued on course. Over the next 2 min I slowly worked my way in closer until I got to about 50-75 '.

I'm not sure if they were becoming use to me or if being aft of the leader was the deciding factor. I tend to think however position was a bigger factor. I feel that they were sticking to the rules of formation, One leader only. I eventually fell all the way back to the back of the right side of the vee formation. They seemed happier with me in the proper position and tended not to look over at me as often.

With well over 1000 hrs of formation flying this was absolutely the most incredible experience I had ever had. I have no idea what kind of birds these were, but I suspect some type of crane. They were quite large, white with black markings and a long neck. The wingspread I would estimate was about 5-6'. They allowed me to stay with them for almost 3 min. before I finally had to add some power and pick up some speed, I was down to about 55 indicated (Remember I have a Forney with more up elevator). At 55 I was wallowing too much with the thermals starting to build. I could tell the leader was becoming a little less happy with me wallowing around like that so I just moved farther out and picked up some speed. I circled back around and watched them from about 500' away.

Just before I broke off I watched as the leader and the #2 bird changed position for the lead with the leader falling to the rear of the formation. This was a beautiful maneuver which cannot be adequately described. I later read that geese perform this maneuver to allow the lead bird to rest. The theory is that the bird at the ends of the echelon is able to draft like race cars do. I presume that other birds do this as well.

It is impossible for me to describe how I felt then and how I still feel to this day when I think about it. :-)


Dave
41 Charlie
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