As per Cathy and Marks comments re Lochiel. Also often at Port Augusta. The
most I remember counting was 15 Black Kites in the thermal all around me (at
least fifteen that I could count) and also this was a great one from 2004:
http://slash.dotat.org/womens-preworlds-2004/sk-28-07-2004.html
"...I was able to take it on a quick local soaring flight. Off the Wilga at
600m I could see 3 big birds circling in the distance. I went over to them for
a closer look and they seemed to be big buzzards. With a wingspan in excess of
a metre or so they looked like pretty chunky birds, not the sort to have a
disagreement with. After a short while one left and I continued to climb with
the remaining two. We were all pretty close and they seemed to prefer sitting
behind my wingtip (to ride the vortex) when they could. At times we were flying
5m or less apart. A really special climb as they either chose to stay with me
the whole way or are a little less expert than the Aussie raptors (the former I
think).
As we approached cloud base I cracked the brakes to stop going up into the
cloud, but the buzzards went up into the gloom. Then they started doing
something particularly spectacular which I've heard of but never seen. They
would fly close together, one above the other, then the top one would roll
around onto its back and underneath the other one. They would clasp talons and
fall for a while, let go and do it again. When they started this they were well
above me and I dropped 300m following them down until they disappeared below.
After that I just cruised about as I knew the competitors would be in soon. I
got down and Sabine and Rolf helped derig the LS1. As we were putting it away
the front runners started coming in..."
SWK
----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine Conway
To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Deal or No Deal, TV Advertising
Not sure where DMcD flies that he misses out flying with eagles, but we flew
with them regularly on the ridge al Lochiel. They were used to us and we'd
normally all get on pretty well. Occasionally there would be disputes during
mating season. The Arrow had an altercation with an eagle on one occasion -
the eagle lost.
We learned so much about them. They fly for fun and can do aerobatics, they
hate flying in rain and give us looks from treetops if we fly in rain over
them, etc. Lots of great stories.
I've thermalled with them too - all over the country. Had one ride my
wingtip vortex out of Benalla once.
About the silent bit - I snuck up on one once - it had no idea I was there
until I deflected an aileron. The noise made him look around suddenly in
surprise. He folded his wings and dropped like a bomb.
-Cath
On 28/11/2007, at 10:23 PM, Ben Loxton wrote:
well someone is in a sour mood...... there really is no need to be so rude
and negative.
I have flown in very quite sailplanes, and have had the pleasure of soaring
with Eagles, a very memorable experience....
Ben
On 28/11/2007, at 10:42 PM, DMcD wrote:
HA.
I'm not sure about all this "Soar with Eagles" nonsense when talking
about sailplanes. It is false advertising and people who believe it will get a
big let down when they find out just how noisy most gliders actually are. Maybe
we'll get sued.
And sure, while there are eagles up there, and sometimes you can soar
past them, but you can't soar with them in a sailplane.
If you want to soar with Eagles, then try an paraglider or a hang glider.
A bit more damage when they attack the glider, but you can fly right up their
freckle.
The other nonsense about gliding is this silent flight biz. Maybe "not as
noisy as powered flight" would be closer to the bone.
In a really quiet aircraft (see above) you can get so close you can touch
a bird or look it right in the eye as it flies an arm's reach from you... just
before you get pecked.
HTH
DMcD
On Nov 28, 2007 10:16 PM, Ben Jones <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
A contestants mum was in the group of case holders and mentioned that
she wants to learn how to fly a glider , a brief discussion happened about
wanting to fly gliders for a long time (mum) ....... I'd like to soar with
eagles stuff...
Then Andrew got the geeks up stairs to research how much gliding is
....... 5 mins later ...
Andrew announced gliding was cheep 200 bucks for a 45 min flight to
4500' with a gob smacking "5 mins at the controls"
then they worked out how much flying mum could do if the daughter won
4500 bucks...
Needles to say her daughter is poor at picking numbers and got stuff
all.
But don't ask me how I got home in time to watch this mind numbing TV.
regards
Ben
West Oz
----- Original Message -----
From: D S Baker
To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 7:08 PM
Subject: Re: [Aus-soaring] Deal or No Deal, TV Advertising
Define a "Free rap"? Do you mean that someone who's a glider pilot
was on there and mentioned it, or what?
Dion Baker
On 27/11/2007, Adam Woolley <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hey,
Watching 'Deal or No Deal' at the moment, and they just gave
gliding a FREE rap. So I'm guessing there might be a few more AEF's at gliding
clubs the coming few weekends...
Regards
Adam
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