Trikster
Sep 02, 2004, 02:50 AM
I was doing my second beta testing flight of the new micro-Speedwing from Speedwing.net when it was attacked by a red-tailed hawk. I have since done some research and the "dance" that the hawk did with my wing is a mating dance. The underside profile of my wing has a similar shape and look as a red-tailed hawk does, especially with the spinning orange prop. I had pulled into a dive from about 400 feet and after about a second heard a really loud thwap and squaking noises. I cut throttle to not hurt the bird (my luck some PETA person would prosecute me if I hadn't) and the hawk went to town.
The motor and prop were never recovered as was the last 1/3 of the wing. I saw it fall about an 8th of a mile from where the wing was struck (bird got tired of carrying it I suppose). All the electronics were pulled free (bird guts) from the wing and toppled in high grass about 4 feet from where I was standing. The wing fluttered down about 100 yards from where I was standing.
Not the first time that one of these hawks have shown interest in my planes. Seagulls used to routinely go after my white Tiger Moth.
The motor and prop were never recovered as was the last 1/3 of the wing. I saw it fall about an 8th of a mile from where the wing was struck (bird got tired of carrying it I suppose). All the electronics were pulled free (bird guts) from the wing and toppled in high grass about 4 feet from where I was standing. The wing fluttered down about 100 yards from where I was standing.
Not the first time that one of these hawks have shown interest in my planes. Seagulls used to routinely go after my white Tiger Moth.