aviatoreb Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 My son and I were at Rockland, ME yesterday, KRKD - and we were stunned to see a Bald Eagle in the pattern. No kidding. No joke, a Bald Eagle. If it were a joke I would say it was doing touch and goes. It was spiraling looking for prey, and hung out for a while and then left. I tried to take some pictures but nothing came out. Happily there was no incident. Can you imagine hitting one of those - 7ft wingspan and 6kg. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M20F Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 2.1 meter wingspan and 6kg. Fixed it for you :-) 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Fixed it for you :-) Yeah - mixed units - bad form!!! Thanks dude. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameIsNobody Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 Scary, but pretty damn cool too! Bet he/she had their eagle eye on ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parker_Woodruff Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I had one trailing me on approach into Omaha once. Very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M016576 Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 We've got Eagles in our pattern all the time... A bit bigger though: 42' wingspan and ~40,000lbs... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 We've got Eagles in our pattern all the time... A bit bigger though: 42' wingspan and ~40,000lbs... But are they bald? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M016576 Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 But are they bald? technically they have no hair... So yes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 technically they have no hair... So yes... OK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aviatoreb Posted August 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 There was a species of Eagle that lived in New Zealand until about 20 years ago that had a 20ft wingspan and was capable of killing adult humans and carrying away toddler humans. Can you imagine sharing the airspace with those bad boys? The FAA would probably have to mandate that they carry ADSB-out transponders. I bet they would make a mandate to the department of interior that the department of interior agents would be required to catch all the Heist Eagles (I think that's their species name) and tag them and mount a certified adsb-out transponder. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyNameIsNobody Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 I like the video of the raptors that pick up baby goats and drop them off the cliff for a nice meal. Some impressive video of them taking their prey. Nature, awesome, but not always rated G. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsxrpilot Posted August 15, 2015 Report Share Posted August 15, 2015 In Australia there are Wedge-Tailed Eagles that are actually a tad bigger than the Baldies here in the US. They are very territorial and I've been run off by one of them before while hang gliding. While soaring the hang glider, there's no sight quite like that of a Wedgie climbing to you in the same thermal. They are much better climbers and will climb right past you and then attack the glider from above. I've never stayed around to get hit by one, but friends have. They say it feels like a body landing on the wing from above. While not dangerous from the standpoint of breaking the glider or making you crash, but it will put nice neat slices through the wing, taking a quick grand off the value of the glider. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert C. Posted August 18, 2015 Report Share Posted August 18, 2015 Missed you by a week We visited the weekend before for a "lobstah roll" at Hill's Seafood and a visit to the Farnsworth Museum and the Lobster Festival. Fun town, airport and stunning Maine coast line of course. Come visit Danbury (KDXR) if you feel like dodging Turkey Vultures on Short Final and take off, not as elegant but almost as large 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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