[ricki]

Having trouble learning to kite, fly, well you're not alone. Here's a tale of a guy that trains eagles born in captivity how to fly. He decided to take one for a flight off Monte Bianco into Chamonix Valley in France.



Maybe we could use them to attack problem kites? Good thing it didn't drag a stray talon across the paraglider canopy, ouch!

October 14, 2008

Man and eagle soar over the French Alps

Have a look at the video below. If you love birds, flying or mountains, it's impossible not to be moved.

It's a report from France 2 television on a flight last Friday by Sherkan, an American bald eagle from the summit of Mont Blanc, Europe's higest mountain. The eagle, which has a two-metre (6'6") wingspan, flew with Jacques-Olivier Travers, a professional falconer. He specialises in teaching flight to big birds born in captivity.

Travers, who runs the Eagles of Leman park on Lake Geneva had been training Sherkan, a 14-year-old bird born in Germany, the art of aviation for the past 18 months. When he was ready, he took him by helicopter along with paraglider pilots to the top of the mountain, which is at 4,800 metres (15,800 feet) altitude. The result was this film, shot partly from the escorting paragliders, of Sherkan making the 40-minute flight down to the Chamonix valley over 12,000 feel below. The thin air at altitude meant that the bird tired quickly and came back to his instructor mid-air to rest. He enjoyed himself more in the lower air, Travers says on the video. [Thanks, Dot King, for posting the link yesterday]
From: http://timescorrespondents.typepad.c...10/post-1.html


From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:M..._du_Gouter.jpg
It's an amazing place.