Flying With Eagles

[primetime 18]

At my first home DZ in Wisconsin, there used to be a family of red-tailed hawks that lived off the end of the runway. Over the years, they became quite used to canopy traffic. They would often get within 50 feet or so of an open canopy.

One of my fondest skydiving memories happened on a tandem jump. It was Father's Day, and I was taking a male student on his fifty-ninth birthday. It was already an emotional jump for me, because my own father had recently passed away and he had never found the time to make a jump with me.

Under canopy, I noticed a bald eagle about 100 feet below us. I pointed out the eagle to my student, then asked for his permission to spin down and try to catch the raptor. The eagle heard our approach but didn't appear overly concerned. We ended up planing out with the bald eagle lurking approximately 10-15 feet away from our right end cell. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in the air!

The eagle stayed with us for at least 30 seconds before peeling off and descending away from us. It was so breath-taking that I was getting a bit misty-eyed. Then I was brought back to reality by my student asking, "Does this happen on every jump?"

Only later did I consider the ramifications of having a malfunction with a pissed-off bald eagle with razor-sharp talons entangled in my lines...

Has anyone else experienced flying with birds? I am reminded of Norman Kent's video Willing To Fly, the sequence with the peregrine falcon. If you watch the extras on the DVD, there is footage of the falcon actually latching onto the end of someone's pilot chute and flying backwards.

[mjosparky 3]

It is not with and Bald Eagle but it’s kind of neat.

Sparky

http://flic.kr/p/ar6aQg

My idea of a fair fight is clubbing baby seals

[virgin-burner 1]

that's pretty amazing!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[JohnMitchell 14]

Very cool. I had a coworker who falconed. He let me hold his bird once. Beautiful animals.

[peek 20]

I have been flying jumpers where there are red-tailed hawks around the airport and have flown within 200 feet of one, passing it on the side, and it did not change its flight direction. I guess they just get used to us. I have seen a lot of other hawks in surprisingly suburban areas. I think they must inherently know that they can fly so well that they have few threats.

[councilman24 36]

Once I was behind a hawk that didn't know I was there. I cawed like a crow. It looked over it's shoulder, saw me and got out of Dodge in a big hurry. I'll swear it's eyes got bigger like a Road Runner cartoon when it saw me, and my 220 sq. ft. wing.

I'm old for my age.
Terry Urban
D-8631
FAA DPRE

[DSE 3]

f you watch last week's wingsuit episode on the Skydive Elsinore Wingsuit School page (FB) you can see the famous Elsinore red-tail hawk flying with me under canopy. He's a regular, and will fly straight towards us and turn at the last second. I think it's a game for him.

[virgin-burner 1]

can u link it!?

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[Abedy 0]

We have a good number of birds of prey at our airfield, too. Most of them are falcons and buzzards, if you do not count crows and magpies
I had both a falcon and a buzzard sort of visiting, both when doing tandems. Well, not really visiting, they remained in a safe distance of about 15 to 20 meters. Both times it was female passengers, both of whom were really impressed. It's kinda majestic (and cute! ) to have these birds near you in mid-flight. I wish they paid me/us a visit more often

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks

[DSE 3]

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2210507375530

[riggerrob 558]

One time I saw a bald eagle thermalling over Pitt Meadows Airport, so I descended into the thermal and followed him for half a turn. When he looked over his shoulder, he a pulled a turn - much tighter than the tandem could follow - and disappeared!

[BillyVance 34]

Years ago while visiting Skydive Monroe I came upon a turkey vulture under canopy. I got within I dunno maybe 100 feet of it before it saw me and flew away. Good thing too, or I might have been drenched with vulture vomit!

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

[virgin-burner 1]

thanks!

“Some may never live, but the crazy never die.”
-Hunter S. Thompson
"No. Try not. Do... or do not. There is no try."
-Yoda

[robblack31 0]

There is an angry large raptor (I forget what kind) that nests very near the landing area of Skydance Skydiving in Davis, CA. The stupid bird put a tear in the top of my sport canopy and send at least one jumper to the hospital after he attacked the jumper after the jumper had landed. We sometimes change our patter just to avoid flying near the nest. On a more positive note, I paraglide 3 to 4 times per week and frequently fly with a variety of hawks and sea birds that seem to enjoy flying with us.

[sunkenstate 0]

Quote

There is an angry large raptor (I forget what kind) that nests very near the landing area of Skydance Skydiving in Davis, CA. The stupid bird put a tear in the top of my sport canopy and send at least one jumper to the hospital after he attacked the jumper after the jumper had landed. We sometimes change our patter just to avoid flying near the nest.

Haha! Wow. I'm a student there. I'll keep the bird in mind this weekend... not that it'll probably change anything I - or the bird - does.

Great story about the tandem / eagle jump. Gotta get my old man back up in the air!

[Amazon 7]

Quote

One time I saw a bald eagle thermalling over Pitt Meadows Airport, so I descended into the thermal and followed him for half a turn. When he looked over his shoulder, he a pulled a turn - much tighter than the tandem could follow - and disappeared!

We had a few eagles at NorthWest Skydivers at Mount Vernon WA. We were very close to the Skagit River and depending on the time of year there are quite a few of the raptors all along the river just to the west of the DZ. I had a chance to fly with them a few times... special moments. We also had one eagle who would go after collapsible pilot chutes flapping behind the main canopy. I saw the bird do that on a few occasions including going after Doc's pilot chute while doing a tandem.

[primetime 18]

Thanks for all the great stories. This thread disputes the notion that "If God had meant us to fly, he would have given us wings."

[jerolim 7]

Quote

Thanks for all the great stories. This thread disputes the notion that "If God had meant us to fly, he would have given us wings."

Response is "If He wanted us to stay on earth, He would give us the roots"

[potatoman 0]

Had a boogie in South Africa, in Mountain area, earlier this year. H+P from 11k, and picked up an eagle, that stayed with me till about 6K. We were at peace with each other, and stayed together, even through turns. Pity I didn't have my camera with. However, the initial post, if you were to connect to one in free fall, or have one of them end up inside your canopy...... (Baddest thing I have seen was a grasshopper strike at 4000feet)

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[cocheese 0]

Tell us about the grass hopper strike. Don't just leave us hanging in the harness.

[trig78 0]

I shared few thermals with hawks while paragliding. Sometimes they will soar right next to the wing.
Pretty cool

facebook.com/trig78

[jakee 1,254]

Quote

However, the initial post, if you were to connect to one in free fall, or have one of them end up inside your canopy...... (Baddest thing I have seen was a grasshopper strike at 4000feet)

There are a couple of those exact stories on this site. Username Fergs hit a large bird of prey (possibly an eagle) with his face on a wingsuit jump (was pretty scratched up but came off better than the bird), and I think ManBird landed from a BASE jump with something like an owl trapped in one of his canopy cells.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[potatoman 0]

On the grashopper strike, not much to say, I obviously only saw that on the ground. The grasshopper made contact on the chest, turned out to make a stain on the jumpsuit. The owner of the jumpsuit, was complaining about chest pains, the grashopper was not available for comment, and goo coming off the JS. when he unveiled, the grasshopper had a white imprint on his skin, with blue marks around it. A nearly perfect inverted picture of it.Thats about that.

You have the right to your opinion, and I have the right to tell you how Fu***** stupid it is.
Davelepka - "This isn't an x-box, or a Chevy truck forum"
Whatever you do, don't listen to ChrisD.

[frontloop33 1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N65ALqiBW_o

not skydving but paragliding.
It's not always fun to fly with eagles.

[Abedy 0]

Ouch! Glad there aren't any eagles around my DZ...

The sky is not the limit. The ground is.

The Society of Skydiving Ducks