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Look at those wings — Amy’s Birds

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via Look at those wings — Amy’s Birds

Many thanks to Amy’s Birds for sharing…

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I saw this juvenile Bald Eagle circling for a long time over Haney Creek in Stuart yesterday morning.

Eagle wingspan: 6 to 7.5 feet!

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It’s not unusual to see an eagle in this Stuart and Jensen Beach area north of the St. Lucie River, but I think this is the first juvenile I’ve spotted.

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According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission…

The bald eagle, our national bird and a symbol of the United States, is a conservation success story. Today, Florida, has one of the densest concentrations of nesting bald eagles in the lower 48 states. While no longer listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act or the Florida Endangered and Threatened Species rules, bald eagles remain protected by both the state eagle rule (68A-16.002, F.A.C.) and federal law.

Florida has an Eagle Watch program coordinated through Florida Audubon.

 

via Look at those wings — Amy’s Birds

Why Sunsets Are So Colorful From The Air 

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Many thanks to Boldmethod for sharing…
Source: Why Sunsets Are So Colorful From The Air | Boldmethod
primaryGolfCharlie232

Seeing a sunset or sunrise from the cockpit is a view you’ll never forget. Here’s why they’re so stunning and full of color.

First, A Quick Review Of Sunlight

Sunlight, or visible light, can be thought of as a wave and a part of the electromagnetic spectrum. When the spectrum is split up, you see all the colors as a rainbow.

Each visible color has a different wavelength along the spectrum. Blue light has the shortest wavelength at 300 nanometers. Red light has the longest at 700 nanometers. As visible light passes through the Earth’s atmosphere, small particles in the air can scatter shorter wavelengths more efficiently, like what you see on the left side of the diagram below.

During the day, blue light is the primary wavelength that’s scattered in the atmosphere, and only a portion of the blue light is scattered. But when the sun is low in the sky during sunrise or sunset, all of that changes.

blue scatter small

“Scattering” Causes Colorful Sunsets

According to Steve Ackerman, a Meteorologist at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, “because the sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passes through more air at sunset and sunrise than during the day, when the sun is higher in the sky. More atmosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is long enough, all of the blue and violet light scatters out of your line of sight. The other colors continue on their way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red.”

Wing SunsetBoldmethod

Red has the longest wavelength of any visible light, which is why the sun may appear red when setting directly on the horizon. The light has passed through the most atmosphere possible before reaching your eyes.

1GolfCharlie232

Why Are Some Sunsets More Colorful Than Others?

According to National Geographic, you may see more vibrant sunsets based on the seasons. In the east, fall and winter create incredible sunsets because the air tends to be dryer and cleaner for the path of sunlight.

Pollution tends to mute and muddy the colors of sunsets because large particles in the lower atmosphere tend to have that effect. And in general, places with a lot of haze have less dramatic sunsets.

2Wikimedia

Why Sunsets Look So Great From The Air

When you’re flying through layers during climb or descent, you’ll find the best sunsets where the sun is clearly visible between multiple layers of clouds.

When sunlight is sandwiched between cloud layers, it bounces off the clouds, further intensifying the sunset. That’s why sunsets often times seem more spectacular from the air.

On top of that, cloud layers can create dramatic shadows on the ground, or on other cloud layers.

3Swayne Martin

Where have you seen the best sunsets or sunrises? Tell us in the comments below.

Where Is Your Highest Risk Point For Stall-Spin Accidents

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Source: Where Is Your Highest Risk Point For Stall-Spin Accidents? | Boldmethod

Where Is Your Highest Risk Point For Stall-Spin Accidents? By Colin Cutler

PrimaryBoldmethod

Nobody thinks it will happen to them. But before you know it, there you are. Low, slow, and approaching a stall.And how well you react in those few seconds makes all the difference in the world. Often times, it’s the difference between a safe recovery and a fatal crash.

Where Do Stall-Spin Accidents Happen The Most?

The Air Safety Foundation conducted a study of 450 stall-spin accidents from 1993 to 2001 to see where they happened, and how they compared to other types of accidents. And to keep the focus on GA, they only looked at accidents where aircraft weighed less than 12,500 pounds.So where did the accidents happen? At least 80% of them started from an altitude of less than 1000′ AGL.What’s the significance of 1000′ AGL? It’s the traffic pattern altitude at most airports.

spin-height

That brings up the major problem with stall-spin accidents down low. The altitude loss in a stall recovery for most GA aircraft is estimated to be 100-350 feet. Which, in many cases, gives you enough room to recover from a stall in the pattern.But spins are a whole different animal. In the 1970s, NASA studied altitude loss in spins of several aircraft, one of which was the Piper Arrow.What they found was eye-opening. The Arrow had an average loss of 1,160′ in spin entry through recovery. And, keep in mind, that’s in an aircraft flown by a test pilot.

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It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out the problem here. If you’re flying a 1,000′ AGL traffic pattern and you get yourself into a spin, you’re not going to have enough altitude to recover, no matter how quick your reaction, or your recovery technique

Staying Alert, Especially Down Low

This, like most things in aviation, always comes back to the basics.There’s no substitute for flight proficiency. And when things start to fall apart in the pattern, going around and giving yourself another chance is almost always the best option.So the next time you’re flying, climb up to altitude and practice some stalls and slow flight. And if it’s been a long time since you’ve done either, grab an instructor so they can give you feedback on how you did.A little practice and proficiency can go a long way. And it can keep you reading about accident studies like this, instead of becoming one of the NTSB’s statistics.

Become a better pilot. Many thanks to Boldmethod for sharing…

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Brilliant Pictures…

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Just a Brilliant Picture…

Four Tips for Late-Summer Flying

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Source: 4 Rules-Of-Thumb For Late-Summer Flying | Boldmethod

Rules-Of-Thumb For Late-Summer Flying; by Colin Cutter – 
Thanks to Boldmethod for sharing…
1) Calculating Civil Twilight
Summer days are getting shorter, but there’s still a lot of daylight left.
A good rule-of-thumb for calculating civil twilight is that it usually ends between 20-35 minutes after sunset. Tonight in Boulder, CO, sunset is at 8:05 PM, and civil twilight ends at 8:34 PM. That’s a difference of 29 minutes. Once twilight ends, you can start logging night flight time. But remember, you need to wait an hour after sunset to log night landings.

2) Takeoff roll increases about 10% for every additional 1,000 feet of density altitude
There’s no sign of the weather cooling down yet. And on hot days, you get high density altitude. For most normally-aspirated GA airplanes, you’ll add about 10% of takeoff roll for every 1,000′ of DA. For example, if your airport’s density altitude on a hot day is 3,200′ over field elevation, you’ll increase your takeoff roll by about 32% over an ISA day. So if you have a 1,500′ takeoff roll on an ISA day, you’ll increase that roll to almost 2,000′.

3) Stay a minimum of 5 miles from storms, and up to 20 miles if you can.
Flying closer than 5 miles from visible overhanging areas in storm clouds puts you at risk of flying through hail and severe turbulence. That’s not good for your plane, or your passengers. In some cases, aircraft have encountered hail, severe windshear, and severe turbulence up to 20 miles from storms. When in doubt, keep your distance.

GolfCharlie232

4) Add Half The Gust Factor On Windy Day Landings.
As we approach the end of summer, windy days increase across the US, because the jet stream starts moving south. When you’re dealing with a gusty day, the FAA recommends that you add half the gust factor to your final approach speed to give yourself safe padding from a stall. For example, if the winds are reported at 18 knots, gusting to 30 knots, it means you have a gust factor of 12 knots (30-18 = 12). So if you take half the gust factor, you get 6 knots (12/2 = 6).

Boldmethod

To apply that in an SR-22T, Cirrus recommends that you fly final at 80 knots. So on a day with a 12 knot gust factor, you’d add 6 knots to the published 80 knots, for a final approach speed of 86 knots. The same math works for any GA airplane’s final approach speed. Just add half the gust factor to your final approach speed.

Boldmethod

Thanks to Boldmethod for sharing. What other rules-of-thumb are you using? Tell us…
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Great Blue Heron

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Showing His Moves, Great Blue Heron - click to enlarge

These 4 photographs were taken while a juvenile Heron was testing flight skills. A second bird looks on and seems very interested. There are actually 3 young birds in this particular nest. The third was flying around overhead. At this point it was getting funny watching the bird dance around flapping, with a rapt audience. […]

via Showing His Moves, Great Blue Heron — TPJphoto.net

Cessna Skyhawk

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Thanks to  Cessna Skyhawk — Charly W. Karl for sharing…

Cessna Skyhawk

The Cessna Skyhawk is the ultimate training aircraft and the most popular single-engine aircraft ever built. With forgiving flight characteristics, great visibility, a sophisticated glass cockpit outfitted with G1000 avionics, slow landing speed and a forgiving stall – the Cessna Skyhawk is a flight training favorite ideally suited for student pilots.

Cessna Skyhawk, avionics
Each Skyhawk come standard with trusted flat-panel Garmin™ G1000™ avionics, featuring Safe Taxi and Flight Charts as well as electronic checklists and a SafeFlight AOA system.

The flight deck of the Skyhawk offers optional features such as ADS-B, traffic, synthetic vision, XM weather, and the sophisticated GFC 700 autopilot. These advanced avionics create the optimal environment for learning how to fly in the world’s most popular trainer.

Cessna Skyhawk//embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js
Web: cessna.txtav

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 via Cessna Skyhawk — Charly W. Karl

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