johnnypilot

I went out for a hike in the local mountains today and thought I would bring my Wing Warrior Zipper along with me in case I ran into some good slope sites. Well, the lift was mediocre, but being the silly guy that I am, I launched it anyway. There was just enough lift to keep it right by the ridge and out a bit. Then, out of nowhere, a hawk comes into my airspace and is dive bombing my wing!! I can't go that fast because of the lift, so I do my best to avoid him. He kept following my wing with his talons out trying to crush it. Then he makes a low pass and tries to get ME!! As I duck out of the way, I tell myself that I better land it while I still have my wing in one piece. I landed it about 15 ft from where I was and the hawk swoops up and hovers at about 15 ft above my head and is just hovering there looking at me and the plane for about 10 seconds and then flies off. It was the coolest thing ever!!
Does anybody else have any interesting stories or incidents while flying with birds? Please share, I would like to hear them!!

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

A friend of mine had his ArtHobby "Whip-It" attacked by a Red Tail Hawk. Joe was circling in some weak lift, and the hawk was above him. Suddenly the hawk dove on his plane, and latched onto the wings leading edge. The hawk tore a bite-sized piece out of the leading edge, and then flew away. Joe used a thin piece of plastic to cover the bite area. We figured the circling attracts them. You dont want to have the Ranger see any encounters like this..

gixxer01

Silly Guy. You eating grape nuts out there too??

johnnypilot

No, actually its Lucky Charms and Cookie Crisp. Thanks for asking though! I guess you dont have any slope gliding stories to tell do you? Oh thats right you live in the marsh lands of Florida! doh!! You only wish you were out here enjoying the awesome slope flying weather we are having in Chino!! haha

On a side note, whenever I fly my sloper on the normal hill, the hawks really dont bother it, they just fly and do their own thing. I wonder if this is because they are used to them and don't see them as a threat. I doubt that the hawk that tried to attack my wing has ever seen a slope glider before!

slopemeno

My Feedback: (2)

We suspect the one that attacked Joes Whip It was a juvenile. It seems like the young ones havent quite figured out whats prey yet. We actually get all sorts of birds at that spot- Ive seen golden eagles, ospreys, hawk, peregrine falcons, and lots of turkey vultures. The turkey vultures are so curious some times that they will fly right into the furball of combat wings just to see what all the excitement is. They come swooping in from behind us and out into the lift band.
The peregrines will lock onto the tail of your plane like some sort of air-to-air missile and suddenly fold thier wings against their body and pass you like youre standing still.

johnnypilot

thats crazy! I could only imagine the birds flying into a slew of wings! that would be pretty cool to see!! Here's a cool site if you havent seen it already. http://animal.discovery.com/converge.../birdtech.html

gixxer01

although a zipper looks nothing like a hawk per se, the other hawk probably thought it was another hawk moving in on its territory. you know, kinda like when you walk by bluejays or other agressive birds and they attack humans cause they got too close to their nests or whatever. Theres my uneducated guess now that I am done trying to flame ya there JOHNNY. Save yer money, get a DA100 and a 30% Qui Que Yak and be done with it already. go chase that hawk away.

johnnypilot

hey, this is a slope forum not a "giant scale forum" haha we operate on lift alone. You can have your gas guzzlers! Hey, how's Qatar?

gixxer01

about as much fun as eating broken glass laced with arsenic...

johnnypilot

its too bad you dont have your slope glider out there with you to fly. I bet there are some good thermals out there!! Hows the heat?

rscarawa

I noticed the same thing in NC with turkey vultures. If I fly in the early morning when the lift is weak but building, all I have to do is start circling. Then out of no where, I have 2 of them circling with me. Then 2 minutes later, I had almost 10 with me circling. They stayed for about a minute and disbanded.

I think the circling may mean that you found food so it is like a call sign to anyone in eyeshot. If I fly straight, they do not seem to hang around. If they get too close, startup the motor. That usually sends them away.


Scot