Among the questions that we can ask ourselves in our first flights by plane, there is the unknown of how high we can see birds through the window of the aircraft, in addition to thinking about how it is possible that an animal can maintain flight at that height (both are frequent concerns over time); However, at present, we have a clear and objective parameter that provides us with a verifiable answer to such doubts.
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The secret of the flight of birds
In ancient times, the flight of birds was a true mystery; even some cultures attributed to feathers a magical power that enabled animals to take flight. With the passage of time and the curiosity of man fueled by the need to move on increasingly longer and faster paths, the mystery of the flight of birds was discovered and applied to physical principles that allowed the first airplanes to be raised.
The secret is in the air
Very distant from what was thought in ancient times, the secret of the flight of birds is in the circulation of air through their body and wings (mainly), to put it in a simple explanation: birds perform a wing movement to develop what we call “thrust”, the thrust allows the bird to propel itself in the air to move and is achieved thanks to the strong pectoral muscles of the birds, in the case of airplanes the thrust that drives the air through the wings of the aircraft it is due to the engines.
The thrust seeks that the air that circulates around the wings (both of airplanes and birds) exerts a pressure, this pressure must be fewer downwards and greater upwards, so that the movement of the wings «pushes» from below towards up to the birds; this means that to achieve that momentum, at least two things are needed: movement and a correct shape of the wings that distribute the pressure in an adequate way.
The height to which the birds fly
It is believed that most birds do not fly higher than 5,000 meters, up to that height, it is frequent to hear news of aircraft colliding with birds; however, some species have been found flying even at more than 10,000 meters high; the official flight record for a bird belongs to a “Rüppell vulture” (Gyps rueppellii), in 1973, a specimen of this bird crashed with a commercial airplane that was flying over the Ivory Coast, which supposed a height of 12,500 meters above sea level, which is a record to this day.
What do you think about this topic? How high did you think the birds flew?
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Image by Denis Doukhan via pixabay under a Creative Commons license.
