SAFA Skysailor Magazine

SKY SAILOR 27 May | June 2020 3. Sane manoeuvres – miscalculation and terrain may kill you, the wedgies won’t; 4. Stay away – if you are attacked, try to avoid that spot for the whole breeding season: In the fray, fly the wing! Now, whilst it might sound really obvious, it is really important to remember that you are in the sky, and bad things can happen if you get distracted! However, I can attest that despite being ‘really obvious’, when you are attacked by a wedgie (or two) you are distracted, and your mind is likely to start thinking about ways to protect your precious wing rather than flying it. If you are close to terrain and or in rough air this momentary lapse of reason may have nasty consequences. So, in the fray: fly the wing, don’t focus entirely on the birds – and yes, this is easier said than done. Topping from the bottom – being a devious Sub Following the rules is simply controlling the out- come of a wedgie encounter with submissive cues – and it works. They go on thinking they’re in charge and you get a hole-free wing – delightfully devious! By way of example, I had a flight at the end of last breeding season where I continuously bounced off a low inversion until I lost the thermal. I was too low to get back to the launch hill and chose to glide to the nearest soarable face – about two kilometres away. I got there a little low and found nothing on the face, I had plenty of safe landing options, so I chanced a leeside thermal on the sunny east side, prepared the wing for a bit of a rough ride, ducked swiftly around the corner and was rewarded with a very bumpy 4m/sec up. Unfortunately, I had failed to notice that my ride was above an active nest (a new one, No.5) – and in zipping low around the corner to catch that ride, I had surprised my Doms at nest height – pretty much the least submissive thing I could have done. In the middle of a rowdy leeside thermal, I was immediately attacked by the mated pair – it was, in hindsight, the most aggressive attack I had endured to date. Bumpy ride, crazed birds… I had a lot on my plate! I stayed silent, flew the wing in the fray, was successfully bluffing the wedgies with wing-flut- ters whenever they got too close, finally picked a good line away and turned hard to quickly fly out of the thermal in the direction of my escape route and flew in a straight line – with a bit of speed. Once the wedgies saw that I was leaving and not coming back (and obviously well away from the nest), they ceased all vocalisation and simply followed me for about a kilometre without further aggression, then turned back to the nest. Yes, I yielded the lift and missed a possible ride to cloudbase. However, my submission provided me with a hole-free wing and a safe outcome. As a bonus I flew on to friendlier skies eventually catching a less-rowdy thermal to cloudbase and, after several more thermals, reached the pub for a well-earned beer. So, to sum up, when you are up in the sky being threatened with some serious wedgie discipline, unfetter your ‘inner Sub’ and surrender… unless you truly crave a spanking. Reference: Olsen, P. Wedge-tailed Eagle 2005 I flew in the morning with cloud forming all around and eagles flying close, touching the wing playfully... but a different story that same afternoon. Flew fast for a few hundred metres, then BANG! It then chased me all the way to the ground Photo: Nic Welbourn