I saw this guy 6 months ago, but had no camera.. it flew right in front of me today.
Obviously a successful raven, despite having -nothing- at the back end!
The standard issue raven's tails seem to be their primary control surface, but this guy flies with the best of them..
It's a flying wing, of course...

I would not have believed that if you had not the photos to prove it ... amazing pics thanks very much!! Shows that we can learn quite a bit from our feathered friends.

Jens

Just checking the calendar.No,it's the 11th
The more you learn about bird flight the more amazing they are.That raven must be adjusting it's wing geometry to compensate.Friend of mine has a Harris hawk which moults it's flight feathers once a year.(do all birds do this)He doesn't "fly"it during moult,but in nature it would have to adjust it's geometry or starve.I've also seen small birds flying apparently ok after losing tails to cats.
Stuart

I've de-tailed a couple planes and had them fly nicely... but it requires adding reflex to the ailerons which became elevons, and moving the c.g. forward.
How's a bird do that???

Birds are So agile.
They have a CG change ability at will.
So I expect that they can fly without tail feathers .

In 1969 in Thailand we had a group of crows fly over the base RC field at ~ 5 pm every day.
Of courss we HAD to go mix it up with them
and there was NEVER a bird strike.
AS we approached at high speed they would sinply Side step out models
and continue on their way.

I remember some neighbor kids used to catch pigeons with box traps and pull out their tail feathers with the thought that it would make them fly funny. It didn't. They just looked strange.

Originally Posted by Sparky Paul

How's a bird do that???

A bird can change it's CG by sweeping it's wings forward.

Kent

Originally Posted by Knoll53

A bird can change it's CG by sweeping it's wings forward.

Kent

or by tucking them back slightly, as most birds of prey do