Do birds fly in IMC?

Now I see an issue with my above thought...


During that time the bird would be weightless as it would be still accelerating down when lift resumed and the nominal and possibly erroneous g forces resumed.

But there would be the effect of the wing acting as a parachute, of sorts, which I think the bird could feel in its joints.

-Rich
 
But there would be the effect of the wing acting as a parachute, of sorts, which I think the bird could feel in its joints.

-Rich

Again though, that will only tell the direction of airflow
 
Again though, that will only tell the direction of airflow

But the only way a bird generates thrust is through the wings. You guys are all missing the difference between a thrust vector being generated by the same part that generates lift. The reason we don't pick up on which way is down in planes is because the thrust is generated by a different piece, and along a completely different vector.

Its like trying to explain tthe treadmill to Kennyflys all over again.
 
But the only way a bird generates thrust is through the wings. You guys are all missing the difference between a thrust vector being generated by the same part that generates lift. The reason we don't pick up on which way is down in planes is because the thrust is generated by a different piece, and along a completely different vector.

Its like trying to explain tthe treadmill to Kennyflys all over again.

Not exactly, I grasp the difference. Gravity doesn't care
 
Weight shift trike pilots fly in clouds with no AI and do fine. For a simple mechanical device, the WST is similar to bird's CG and lift characteristics.
 
Yes, there would be, which is why they can tell which way is down.
You (or a bird) can fall "up" as well as down. As a couple other folks have pointed out, some of you are trying awfully hard to avoid some well proven (at sublight speeds) laws of classical physics and if you keep at it the physics enforcers are going to come knocking on your front door with a warrant.
 
But the only way a bird generates thrust is through the wings. You guys are all missing the difference between a thrust vector being generated by the same part that generates lift. The reason we don't pick up on which way is down in planes is because the thrust is generated by a different piece, and along a completely different vector.

Its like trying to explain tthe treadmill to Kennyflys all over again.

*cough* helicopter...
 
How many of you swim underwater with your eyes closed and wind up upside down, or swimming directly towards the bottom, or the top if you start out mid depth of the pool/lake? You don't. You may not swim in a straight line, but you remain stable, and correctly oriented. Same with birds.
 
You (or a bird) can fall "up" as well as down. As a couple other folks have pointed out, some of you are trying awfully hard to avoid some well proven (at sublight speeds) laws of classical physics and if you keep at it the physics enforcers are going to come knocking on your front door with a warrant.

I have never seen a bird fall up. Birds don't have a (mostly constant) thust or lift vector to be able to apply those laws of physics, like you do in an airplane, or glider.
 
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Not the same mechanics as a bird and you know it.

Tell us how it's different :) Helicopters flap up on the advancing blade and down on the retreating blade. Birds wings are both advancing airfoils so they can be flapped up and down together.

FYI you brought up flapping, not me. I was simply pointing out that like birds, helicopters also multitask thrust and lift.

To stay on topic, I strongly suspect birds can fly in IMC.
 
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Weight shift trike pilots fly in clouds with no AI and do fine. For a simple mechanical device, the WST is similar to bird's CG and lift characteristics.

I'm too new to trikes to comment with any authority, but the stories I've heard experienced trike pilots tell about flights into IMC range from "no big deal" (the most common response), to scared for their lives.

An AI, of course, would be of little use on a WSC. Very few trikes are even equipped with them unless they have Enigma or other EFIS systems that incorporate that functionality. But on the other hand, trikes are inherently stable because of their design. There's also direct feedback from the wing because the pilot is directly moving it, rather than moving control surfaces which in turn move the wing.

Like I said, I'm much too new to that world to speak with authority, and I don't think I feel like flying into IMC to report what it's like. But I think if a trike pilot has any advantage in this regard (other than the inherent stability of the design), it would be the direct feedback provided by the control bar. In an airplane, if you're in an unusual attitude with neither visual reference nor AI, it would be a lot less obvious than in a trike, where the attitude of the pod with respect to the wing is both directly controlled and can be determined by the position of the control bar.

-Rich
 
I'm too new to trikes to comment with any authority, but the stories I've heard experienced trike pilots tell about flights into IMC range from "no big deal" (the most common response), to scared for their lives.

An AI, of course, would be of little use on a WSC. Very few trikes are even equipped with them unless they have Enigma or other EFIS systems that incorporate that functionality. But on the other hand, trikes are inherently stable because of their design. There's also direct feedback from the wing because the pilot is directly moving it, rather than moving control surfaces which in turn move the wing.

Like I said, I'm much too new to that world to speak with authority, and I don't think I feel like flying into IMC to report what it's like. But I think if a trike pilot has any advantage in this regard (other than the inherent stability of the design), it would be the direct feedback provided by the control bar. In an airplane, if you're in an unusual attitude with neither visual reference nor AI, it would be a lot less obvious than in a trike, where the attitude of the pod with respect to the wing is both directly controlled and can be determined by the position of the control bar.
Since you have no flight instruments that will help you could just try flying with your eyes closed.
 
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