Have you ever watched buzzards fly? They are masters of using very little energy to continue to soar.They must stay up flying for long periods of time to catch sight of their next meal. You can learn about soaring from watching
their flight patterns. As they circle in the sky, watch the wing that points to the inside of the circle they flying. When that wing suddenly lifts, the bird will turn in towards that wing and circle the thermal updraft.
When they get to the outer boundary of that column of warm rising air, their outer wing will drop, alerting them to turn in again. When they break
out and glide down and away, they have lost their lift and will search out another lifting thermal. Of course eagles and other birds soar also, but the buzzards are the masters of thermals
Gliders gain altitude using these same lifting thermals
The Oshkosh flight tower becomes the busiest in the world during the week of AirVenture when it is called on to direct tens of thoudands of aircraft.
“Aerodynamically, the bumble bee shouldn’t be able to fly. But the bumble bee doesn’t know it so it goes on flying anyway” -Mary Kay Ash
