02/03/2020
Renovation should be finished sometime this spring if not summer. Looking forward to getting back to breeding this year and having space for lots of flight time indoors for the babies 🙂
In the meantime, enjoy this post we stumbled across on one of the groups we belong to.
Clipped Birds Fly Badly
The science.... Flight is a function of lift:drag ratio. Lift consists of:
1. the coefficient is specific to the shape of the foil (bird).
2. thrust is only the bird's control of air velocity (v). Passing wind adds to the air velocity.
3. Surface area (A) is along the top
4. air density is important relative to the buoyancy of drag.
Clipping your bird reduces the surface area and ability to control thrust, direction, and to glide (volplane). The bird is still designed as a buoyant foil. Air speed acting on a clipped bird will take them like it will take a loose piece of paper, and they have no control.
Buoyancy is a function of density (specific weight), an aerostatic quality. Aerostatic means it will float on air without additional effort. Most birds are not lighter than air, but they are designed to offer very little drag. Yes, drag is a lot more complex. If you want those details see https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/VirtualAero/BottleRocket/airplane/drag1.html
Clipping does not prevent flight. It prevents control and makes the animal more vulnerable to threats. Clipping is business, not science.
For more on flight and free training resources see https://parrotvolancy.com/
Notes:
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aircraft/glider_handbook/media/gfh_ch03.pdf
https://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/k-12/WindTunnel/Activities/buoy_Archimedes.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lift-to-drag_ratio
