| [Article No.5] | |
Flying
with Buzzards |
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I had just
un-packed the motor from the car at my local flying site when I heard the
familiar call of a pair of large birds of prey, I was able to identify them
instantly!! I had grown up in the area and I often marvelled at this family
of birds. They always seemed so graceful and appeared to put little effort
into their daily hunting sorties…I envied them. I took their calls as a challenge and was soon ready for flight. After the normal pre-flight and Takeoff checks I was airborne heading south from my launch point. I had lost sight of the birds and after passing 500ft did two S turns. I still couldn't get an eyeball on them!! I levelled off at about 1600ft and settled into the cruise making my way back over the top of my Launch point. My family gazing up at me prompted a small turn and then I went in search of my aerial companions. I wasn't sure what the outcome would be but I was very cautious in my approach allowing plenty of height as I came over their nesting site. It wasn't until I had turned another 180 that I spotted them about 2 miles away in a weak thermal. I made my way over………by which time the birds were a lot higher up. With the canopy above me I couldn't keep a constant watch on them and they seemed to be playing Cat and Mouse with me! After that I had been up around 70 mines (quite a good time for me as the Weather hasn't been great here!!) I had plenty fuel but I was getting chilly so I made my way back to the Launch point. It is a fair sized field with no obstructions to worry about it has spectacular surroundings and is very flat. My approach was good until I hit quite a strong thermal. I recovered from what felt like a rapid deceleration and continued with plenty of field to spare. A soft touch down made my day even better as I realised that I had just rubbed wings with a couple of experienced aviators (The Buzzards!!)
Jan 2001 For
more info. on Fly Castelluccio Range visit us at: Adventure
Aviation!!
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