Community Magazine May 2013

TUVIA COHEN Flying Marvels T here is no doubt that aircraft are fascinating. A low flying jet passing over your house will bring all the inhabitants racing to the window. A helicopter hovering overhead will turn all heads upwards, mesmerized by the sight of an enormous machine cutting through the air in a clatter of noise. A bomber screaming, scraping the tree tops, is a frightening sight, yet strangely leaves the cows munching as before, undisturbed and unperturbed. Airplanes fascinate. A photograph from 1927 shows Charles Lindbergh in his Spirit of St. Louis approaching Hendon aerodrome watched by tens of thousands of spectators. So many people enraptured by one airplane! Aerodynamic Wonders All Around Us Yet the greatest aerobatic display of all takes place all around us, and for the most part remains unnoticed. Lift your eyes on high, and see the wonders in the sky. If you are fortunate enough to live near the sea, take a moment to watch the seagulls with their wide wings, wheeling, soaring, gliding gracefully, sliding through the air with just the barest flick of their feathers, sometimes hovering almost at a standstill in perfect aerodynamic control. If five small jet planes flying in close formation leave you speechless with amazement, observe a flock of starlings at dusk as they come in to land on a tree. Thousands of birds – twisting, turning, and changing direction almost as one. There are never any mid-air collisions, and no one knows how such perfect harmony is achieved. On a hot day, stop and ponder at a cloud of midges, not with irritation or repugnance, but with awe, as they weave around each other at breakneck speed in a dizzying blur, never ever hitting each other. How do they do it? As far as we know, there is no midge control-tower with little midges staring at computer-screens, guiding the airborne midges in their intricate and coordinated waltz! If you can, watch the tiniest of all birds, the humming bird, which weighs less than seven ounces, perform feats that would make the most sophisticated helicopter green with envy. They are not only quick and agile in forward flight, but they can also fly up, down, sideways, backwards and upside down. In addition, they can hover perfectly, keeping their beaks still as they suck nectar from the flowers. As it hovers, the hummingbird’s wings twist into the shape of a propeller, and the wing tips move in a figure of eight to give perfect control. Their narrow wings beat up to 90 times each second! Most remarkable of all, the tiny bird, as with all members of the bird family, lays eggs to produce the next generation of flying wonders. No Concorde, to best of our knowledge, has ever produced diminutive offspring. On any long journey, the view from the passenger seat is often tedious. Buildings follow strip malls, cows follow farmlands, and boredom soon sets in. Pass by an airport, however, and everyone suddenly wakes up. Eyes are strained in the hope that an airplane is taking off or landing. If an aircraft is indeed in the process of taking off, it is extremely difficult for the driver to concentrate on the road ahead – instinctively he feels the urge to watch the colossal metal structure surge upwards in a gravity-cheating exhibition of technological wonder. 30 Community magazine