To soar like an albatros


Albatross flying wind gradient

Una volta che abbiate conosciuto il volo, camminerete sulla terra guardando il cielo, perché là siete stati e là desidererete tornare.

Leonardo da Vinci

The article "Una recopilación de información general para una introducción al planeo dinámico” was first published on the website of the Ocaña airfield (Toledo, Spain) in November 2011. I feel proud that it is still there. At the bottom of this page you can find links to:
- The article in the Ocaña airfield website (Spanish language)  
- An updated version of the article (Spanish and English languages).  This new version of the article includes typo corrections and some other things that are described below.


As a presentation of the paper, I reproduce here part of the introduction that Iñaki Ulibarri wrote for it:
... Dynamic soaring is the way in which albatrosses, taking advantage of wind gradients, can fly thousands of kilometres over the ocean.

The idea of writing the article arose while celebrating -with an excellent Asturian empanada and a good wine of Rioja- my first solo flight in Ocaña. During the conversation, Iñaqui commented that "the flight of the albatross is a recurrent topic, it goes and comes back once again". This brought to my mind the Emerson, Lake & Palmer song "Welcome back my friends" whose first words begin the paper. A link to an EL&P video of this song has been included in the article.


In addition, I have added subtitles to the "Raptor Force" video. This video is referenced in the last section of the article. The corresponding link has been updated accordingly. 


In December 2011, on the island of Djerba (Tunisia) -after work- while enjoying the endless sunsets of such a beautiful country and with the remote -but much more than valuable- collaboration of my nephew Antón, I finished the translation to the English language. This edition of the article never had been published until now. 


When I started to research on dynamic soaring, I planned the work in four steps. First, the compilation of published works. Second, the mathematical calculation of stable flight paths and its verification by simulation. Third, suggestions on instrumentation for aiding the pilot and finally, discussion, conclusions and possibly, recommendations for a future work.


The first step is covered by this article. The second step is still today, incomplete. And, of course, for starting the third and the fourth steps, the results of the second one are needed. 


I am working on it ;). 


Writing all this, I decided to get the title used in the Ocaña airfield web (Volar como el albatros / To soar like an albatross) for all of the papers and a different subtitle for each one.


Enjoy it.
Una recopilación de información general para una introducción al planeo dinámico
 Volar como el albatros Una recopilación de información  general para una introducción al planeo dinámico
To soar like an albatross. A compilation of general information for an introduction to dynamic soaring
--------------------
1. Picture: Wikipedia. Buller's Albatross (Thalassarche bulleri) with a Short-tailed Shearwater (Puffinus tenuirostris) behind, East of the Tasman Peninsula, Tasmania, Australia. J.J. Harrison.
 
2. "To soar like an albatross" is also the title of an article written by A.E. Slater and published by Fight International in 1977. You can find it in the References section of the paper. 

3. I want to thank Karen Johnson her revision of both this text and the transcription of the Raptor Force video subtitles.

4. In the writing of this article, Tangerine Dream (Finnegans Excessive Wake, Finnegans Wake) has collaborated in an involuntary but decisive way.
Finnegans Excessive Wake, Finnegans Wake. Tangerine Dream
 

 
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"Welcome back, my friends to the show that never ends. We're so glad you could attend! Come inside! Come inside!"

Enjoy your new online experience!

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