[Fwd: Fantastic Falcon Flick]

[Jack[_1_]]

-------- Original Message --------


A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.


http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm


=== end ===

[[email protected]]

On Oct 13, 9:46*pm, Jack > wrote:
> -------- Original Message --------
>
> A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
>
> http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
>
> === end ===

that is awesome

[GM]

On Oct 14, 2:32*pm, wrote:
> On Oct 13, 9:46*pm, Jack > wrote:
>
> > -------- Original Message --------
>
> > A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
>
> >http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
>
> > === end ===
>
> that is awesome

Fantastic footage, indeed. Just one question: how did the Falcon get
up there? I cannot imagine him flying alongside the C-172 all the time
it took to climb to altitude. Even when climbing, the Cessna would be
too fast. Did the parachutist carry him along and toss him out the
door before he exited?
Uli

[Mike the Strike]

On Oct 14, 9:52*pm, GM > wrote:
> On Oct 14, 2:32*pm, wrote:
>
> > On Oct 13, 9:46*pm, Jack > wrote:
>
> > > -------- Original Message --------
>
> > > A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
>
> > >http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
>
> > > === end ===
>
> > that is awesome
>
> Fantastic footage, indeed. Just one question: how did the Falcon get
> up there? I cannot imagine him flying alongside the C-172 all the time
> it took to climb to altitude. Even when climbing, the Cessna would be
> too fast. Did the parachutist carry him along and toss him out the
> door before he exited?
> Uli

Yes - you can see the falcon is trained and was released by the
skydiver. The bird is also diving to retrieve a treat held by his
owner (a tasty pigeon?).

It looks like the falcon was pretty close to its terminal velocity.
Very impressive.

Some of you may also have caught the BBC TV news piece on a French
falconer who teaches eagles raised in captivity to accompany his
paraglider in flight - there were some pretty amazing shots from Mont
Blanc.

Mike

[Nyal Williams[_2_]]

At 05:07 15 October 2008, Mike the Strike wrote:


>Some of you may also have caught the BBC TV news piece on a French
>falconer who teaches eagles raised in captivity to accompany his
>paraglider in flight - there were some pretty amazing shots from Mont
>Blanc.
>
>Mike

I believe tht was a woman, Mike.

[Bob Whelan[_3_]]

<Snip>
>>> A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
>>> http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
>>> === end ===
>> that is awesome
>
> Fantastic footage, indeed. Just one question: how did the Falcon get
> up there? I cannot imagine him flying alongside the C-172 all the time
> it took to climb to altitude. Even when climbing, the Cessna would be
> too fast. Did the parachutist carry him along and toss him out the
> door before he exited?

This may be a first...TV being ahead of the internet. Maybe a year or
two ago I happened to catch something on PBS (Nova?) about a sport
parachutist/falconer/scientifically-inclined person seeking to measure
just how fast Peregrine Falcons could dive. As of then, his trained
falcon had attained (as I vaguely recall) 287 mph keeping pace with his
trainer/free-falling 'chutist. I blundered into the show via channel
surf, and was more interested in what (t)he(y) had learned about bird
aerodynamics than absolute speeds, so take the above number skeptically.

In any event, the bird - to achieve the highest descent speeds then seen
& recorded - modified its nominal body shape to achieve a slimmer
cross section than merely diving head-first downhill might indicate
possible.

Nifty science, w. a high 'Gollygeewhillickers!' factor.


Bob - there might *BE* something to this evolution theory - W.

P.S. Not an insignificant 'chutist speed either...!

[noel.wade]

Speeds of "over 200mph" have been recorded, but I don't know about
280mph...

However, there are fascinating ramifications of going that fast.
Here's a tidibt I never thought about before (thank you Wikipedia):

-----
The air pressure from a 200 mph (320 km/h) dive could possibly damage
a bird's lungs, but small bony tubercles in a falcon's nostrils guide
the shock waves of the air entering the nostrils (compare intake ramps
and inlet cones of jet engines), enabling the bird to breathe more
easily while diving by reducing the change in air pressure
-----

....How cool is that?

--Noel

[P Ilatus[_1_]]

there's a falcon 'skydiving' video on the same website:

http://www.flixxy.com/skydiving-falcon.htm




At 16:47 15 October 2008, Bob Whelan wrote:
>
>>>> A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
>>>> http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
>>>> === end ===
>>> that is awesome
>>
>> Fantastic footage, indeed. Just one question: how did the Falcon get
>> up there? I cannot imagine him flying alongside the C-172 all the time
>> it took to climb to altitude. Even when climbing, the Cessna would be
>> too fast. Did the parachutist carry him along and toss him out the
>> door before he exited?
>
>This may be a first...TV being ahead of the internet. Maybe a year or
>two ago I happened to catch something on PBS (Nova?) about a sport
>parachutist/falconer/scientifically-inclined person seeking to measure
>just how fast Peregrine Falcons could dive. As of then, his trained
>falcon had attained (as I vaguely recall) 287 mph keeping pace with his
>trainer/free-falling 'chutist. I blundered into the show via channel
>surf, and was more interested in what (t)he(y) had learned about bird
>aerodynamics than absolute speeds, so take the above number skeptically.
>
>In any event, the bird - to achieve the highest descent speeds then seen

> & recorded - modified its nominal body shape to achieve a slimmer
>cross section than merely diving head-first downhill might indicate
>possible.
>
>Nifty science, w. a high 'Gollygeewhillickers!' factor.
>
>
>Bob - there might *BE* something to this evolution theory - W.
>
>P.S. Not an insignificant 'chutist speed either...!
>

[bobcaldwell]

On Oct 15, 12:30*pm, P Ilatus > wrote:
> there's a falcon 'skydiving' video on the same website:
>
> http://www.flixxy.com/skydiving-falcon.htm
>
> At 16:47 15 October 2008, Bob Whelan wrote:
>
>
>
> >>>> A skydiver, freefalling and being followed by a peregrine falcon.
> >>>>http://www.flixxy.com/you-can-fly.htm
> >>>> === end ===
> >>> that is awesome
>
> >> Fantastic footage, indeed. Just one question: how did the Falcon get
> >> up there? I cannot imagine him flying alongside the C-172 all the time
> >> it took to climb to altitude. Even when climbing, the Cessna would be
> >> too fast. Did the parachutist carry him along and toss him out the
> >> door before he exited?
>
> >This may be a first...TV being ahead of the internet. *Maybe a year or
> >two ago I happened to catch something on PBS (Nova?) about a sport
> >parachutist/falconer/scientifically-inclined person seeking to measure
> >just how fast Peregrine Falcons could dive. *As of then, his trained
> >falcon had attained (as I vaguely recall) 287 mph keeping pace with his
> >trainer/free-falling 'chutist. *I blundered into the show via channel
> >surf, and was more interested in what (t)he(y) had learned about bird
> >aerodynamics than absolute speeds, so take the above number skeptically.
>
> >In any event, the bird - to achieve the highest descent speeds then seen
> > *& recorded - modified its nominal body shape to achieve a slimmer
> >cross section than merely diving head-first downhill might indicate
> >possible.
>
> >Nifty science, w. a high 'Gollygeewhillickers!' factor.
>
> >Bob - there might *BE* something to this evolution theory - W.
>
> >P.S. Not an insignificant 'chutist speed either...!

A stable skydiver is at about 120 mph I belive

[Andy[_1_]]

On Oct 16, 12:58*pm, bobcaldwell >
wrote:
>
> A stable skydiver is at about 120 mph I belive-

That's about right for belly flying as was seen in the video that
started this thread. There quite a range though depending on body
position, body shape, and clothing. My max fall rate was only about
105 mph when I started jumping. Skydivers can fall much faster than
120mph in stable head down position though.

Andy

[Tuno]

About 180mph in a head-down dive. Higher speeds can be acheived but
exceeding 200mph requires considerable practice, especially when
steering towards a target far below.

What falcons can do is simply amazing ...

2NO

[Karl Striedieck]

That footage was part of the TV program referred to earlier titled "Terminal
Velocity." The chutist/falconer is Ken Franklin who taught his peregrine
"Horrible" to skydive with him by serving the garnished lure seen in the
video. By making the lure heavier it was possible to make it go faster than
he could free fall, and by use of a barometric/time chip attached to the
bird they measured a velocity of 243 mph. The pilot of the Cessna was his
father. Ken is also a pilot for either Fed Ex or Evergreen. My hat is off to
the guy that made the videos. Spectacular!

Karl Striedieck


"Tuno" > wrote in message
...
> About 180mph in a head-down dive. Higher speeds can be acheived but
> exceeding 200mph requires considerable practice, especially when
> steering towards a target far below.
>
> What falcons can do is simply amazing ...
>
> 2NO