Video: Organic Variable Geometry Wings... With Killer Landing Gear!

(both videos are selectable to 720p HD)

 This first video is only 21 seconds long but wow, what an impressive 21 seconds! It's a slow motion capture of an Eagle Owl in the final stages of landing right in front of the camera.  In my opinion, the advanced aerodynamics on display will never be matched by us mere mortals... God is truly the Master of the Skies! I hope you're like me and you watch this video over and over picking out more details of both the unimaginably complex variable geometry wings, and the menacing killer landing gear! Wow!

Video screenshot of the awesome Eagle Owl and its killer landing gear!
 

The video below is a little longer at 52 seconds and has some stunning footage of Bald Eagles putting that killer landing gear to work. The slow motion capture reveals details that are otherwise missed with these stunning birds.

 All I can say is I'm really glad these birds don't ever get big enough to pick mankind as their prey!

Must See Video: Paragliding + An Amazing Hawk = ParaHawking!

 
 Paragliding is already one of the most amazing ways to fly, but combining it with a real live hawk trained to fly formation and even land on an outstretched arm is pure flying perfection... and this awesome video from about a year ago lets you and me experience that perfection in a very stunning way. Wow!

 And I recommend you pay attention the the wings of the hawk as it approaches that outstretched arm. This is variable geometry wings at their very best! It's further evidence of my belief that we'll never be able to build flying machines as impressive as those made by the Creator : )

 
Video screenshot of the hawk landing on the trainers hand!  Amazing stuff!

Video: The Greatest Aerobatic Team Ever - Happy Thanksgiving!

 Warning: this post contains a display of my unashamed belief in God, the Creator of the
universe and the inventor the awesome concept of flight - read on at your own risk : )

  Here I go mixing flying and God again (I did it here, here and here), and there's no better day to do it than on Thanksgiving. This video by two young women is beyond fantastic... it shows an incredible display of starling birds doing that incredible formation flying that you've probably seen or heard of before. But this video is by far the best I've ever seen of the phenomenon. The girls were on the River Shannon in Ireland when the massive quantity of birds began swirling and flying in formation right above them. It's stunning, it's beautiful, and if you're anything like me, it really makes you think.

 What it makes me think is this: how can this mass of birds possibly move as tho they are almost of one mind? How can the information of where the group is going be telegraphed across the mass so quickly? How can hundreds of thousands of birds fly so fast, in such a tight formation and not all wind up falling out of the sky?... especially when there is so much hard core aerobatics taking place.

 To me there's only one answer. God.

 The flight of these starlings in the video is pure miracle to me. But the basic concept of flight, both the flight of birds and the flight that we humans are able to enjoy, is a wonderful blessing from the mind of God. And I figure that Thanksgiving is the perfect day to reminded that we gather together with family and food to thank Him for all the blessings He has given us.

To the Lord of all creation, Thank You!

 Screenshot from the video showing the unbelievable flight of the starlings

CoolPix: X-47B Tailless UCAS 'Gear Up' 2Fer!

(click pic for hi-res)  Northrop Grumman X-47B UCAS: first gear up flight September 2011

 The envelope is being opened up significantly in the Northrop Grumman X-47B Unmanned Combat Air System (UCAS) program. It's now wheels up and throttle forward to the cruise configuration of the autonomous unmanned aircraft that's eventually headed for the aircraft carrier. These two images were released a couple days ago showing the wheels up for the first time, so I've made them available as CoolPix images for your viewing pleasure. Be sure to click 'em to make 'em big! (feel free to say 'wow' when the pix open up big)

 So far, the X-47B is performing extremely well, tho the bar will be raised a mile or so when they start getting serious about those unmanned, autonomous carrier landing trials at some point down the road. However, I'm pretty confident that we'll see great success there too as the program has been performing very well.

(click pic for hi-res)   Awesome view of the clean underside of the X-47B UCAS

 Actually, the X-47B is beginning to resemble God's creation we call birds as it has no vertical tail, can fold its wings, and, it's under its own pre-programmed guidance. It's all quite impressive... but I honestly can't imagine a day when we'll build a flying machine that can approach a moving wire in full flight on a gusty, windy day and rapidly translate to vertical flight for a flawless VTOL landing on said moving wire. Birds do it every day without even thinking about it!

 We're good, but we aren't God : )

Ultimate Flying Machines! Peregrine Falcon & Goshawk Onboard Video

 Sometimes we think we're pretty hot pilots... or that maybe we've seen (or maybe even flown) the ultimate flying machine, but I've felt for years that the birds God has created make even the best of man and machine look like rookies.  Have you ever really thought thru what it takes for even a common everyday bird to land on a swaying tree branch when the winds are gusting to 30mph?  The mastery of aerodynamics and the processing power required are nothing short of a miracle!

 This video from the BBC goes way beyond your common everyday birds for sure. Absolutely awesome images from a camera mounted on the back of a Peregrine Falcon and a Goshawk that give you a bird's eye view of some very extreme flying.  All I can say is: Wow!