While the rest of the continental USA deals with winter in Florida temperatures remain firmly in the mid-80°s (29° C) and birds of all types are flocking to bask in the warmth in huge numbers. Which prompts the question:
One of the requirements for heavier-than-air flying machines is a structure that combines strength with light weight. This is true for birds as well as planes.
How do Birds Fly?
One of the requirements for heavier-than-air flying machines is a structure that combines strength with light weight. This is true for birds as well as planes.
Birds have many physical features, besides wings, that work together to enable them to fly. They need lightweight, streamlined, rigid structures for flight. The four forces of flight—weight, lift, drag and thrust—each affect the flight of birds.
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Physical features
Flying birds have: lightweight, smooth feathers – this reduces the forces of weight and drag a beak, instead of heavy, bony jaws and teeth – this reduces the force of weight an enlarged breastbone called a sternum for flight muscle attachment – this helps with the force of thrust light bones – a bird’s bones are basically hollow with air sacs and thin, tiny cross pieces to make bones stronger – this reduces the force of weight a rigid skeleton to provide firm attachments for powerful flight muscles – this helps with the force of thrust a streamlined body – this helps reduce the force of drag wings – these enable the force of lift.
Wings
The shape of a bird’s wing is important for producing lift. The increased speed over a curved, larger wing area creates a longer path of air. This means the air is moving more quickly over the top surface of the wing, reducing air pressure on the top of the wing and creating lift. Also, the angle of the wing (tilted) deflects air downwards, causing a reaction force in the opposite direction and creating lift.
Larger wings produce greater lift than smaller wings. So smaller-winged birds (and planes) need to fly faster to maintain the same lift as those with larger wings.
Wing loading tells you how fast a bird or plane must fly to be able to maintain lift: wing loading = weight/wing area (kilograms per square meter).
A smaller wing loading number means the bird/plane can fly more slowly while still maintaining lift and is more maneuverable.
Gliding
When a bird is gliding, it doesn’t have to do any work. The wings are held out to the side of the body and do not flap. As the wings move through the air, they are held at a slight angle, which deflects the air downwards and causes a reaction in the opposite direction, which is lift. But there is also drag (air resistance) on the bird’s body, so every now and then, the bird has to tilt forward and go into a slight dive so that it can maintain forward speed.
Soaring
Soaring flight is a special kind of glide in which the bird flies in a rising air current (called a thermal). Because the air is rising, the bird can maintain its height relative to the ground. The albatross uses this type of soaring to support its multi-year voyages at sea.
Flapping
Birds’ wings flap with an up-and-down motion. This propels them forward. The entire wingspan has to be at the right angle of attack, which means the wings have to twist (and do so automatically) with each downward stroke to keep aligned with the direction of travel.
A bird’s wing produces lift and thrust during the downstroke. The air is deflected downwards and also to the rear. The bird reduces its angle of attack and partially folds its wings on the upward stroke so that it passes through the air with the least possible resistance. The inner part of the wing has very little movement and can provide lift in a similar way to gliding.
Birds obtain thrust by using their strong muscles and flapping their wings. Some birds may use gravity (for example, jumping from a tree) to give them forward thrust for flight. Others may use a running take-off from the ground.
Different flight abilities
Different birds have different adaptive features to meet their flight needs:
Some birds are small and can manipulate their wings and tail to maneuver easily. Others, like the hawk, with its large wingspan, are capable of speed and soaring. Gannets and seabirds are streamlined to dive at high speeds into the ocean for fish. Godwits, although small, are equipped to fly long distances, and so on.
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Melissa McCarthy's Knock-Out Performance
Melissa McCarthy’s frustrated, unhinged parody of White House press secretary Sean Spicer on last weekend’s SNL unsettled the White House and bothered Trump, and her performance was seen as potentially hurting Spicer’s longevity in the job, Politico reported, citing people close to the president.
Melissa McCarthy was the perfect choice to play White House’s Sean Spicer on SNL
Yes, a late-night comedian’s performance could affect what Trump does as president — and this is exciting progressives the world over.
Sean Spicer Says Melissa McCarthy Needs to “Dial Back,” and SNL Is Too “Mean”
Perhaps he's in the wrong line of work. Defending demagoguery is not for the thin-skinned
The casting of McCarthy as Spicer was a stroke of comedic brilliance, a perfect fit. She got the mannerisms down pat: the pugnacious fighter’s scowl, the verbal gaffes and nonsensical spin tactics, the scorn sprayed indiscriminately at the press corps (a metaphor made literal by the inspired use of a Super Soaker loaded, supposedly, with soapy water), and, most of all, the flicker of fear behind the fury, that mark of the schoolyard bully who knows he’s going to be whupped himself as soon as he gets home. The sketch has now been viewed tens of millions times on YouTube.
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Rosie O’Donnell, longtime adversary of President Donald Trump, trended on Twitter this week as “Saturday Night Live” fans urged the show to cast her in a key role.
Some suggested O’Donnell play White House chief strategist Steve Bannon while others ― no doubt remembering her 2006 impression of Trump on “The View”― were hoping she could play the president himself.
Meanwhile Conservatives Have This Anti-Progressive, Regressive, Anti-feminist Nonsense to Deal With
Another FLOTUS First
Could someone please explain hubris to Republicans?
Another FLOTUS First
Could someone please explain hubris to Republicans?
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C'mon. . .Would you buy her Face Chemicals Anyway? She can't even put a decent foundation on her Donnie
C'mon. . .Would you buy her Face Chemicals Anyway? She can't even put a decent foundation on her Donnie
Plans to profit from her husband's presidency cited in latest lawsuits filed against media outlets that cited rumors of her past alleged occupation(s)
Any veneer of plausible deniability about the Trump family’s greed and their transactional view of the most powerful job in the world was shattered this week by a defamation lawsuit the first lady, Melania Trump, filed. Mrs. Trump is suing The Daily Mail’s website in New York State court over a story published last year that included an allegedly baseless claim that the rarely seen first lady once worked as an escort
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