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Just when I thought 9,500 was safe...

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Toobuilder

Well-Known Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
6,602
Location
Mojave, Ca
New one for me... Typical trip across the open desert to Phoenix, a route I've taken many times. Severe clear weather, Fat dumb and happy cruising along on autopilot and I glance down at the iPad to see what kind of traffic is out there that I can't see with the eyeballs. Just a glance, mind you - not minutes of heads down. When I look up, I see what appears at first to be a cloud of black smoke off in the distance. It quickly turns into a massive swarm of bees... Nope, it's birds coming right at me, co altitude, 12:00, and my 190 knots and their 20 means this distance is closing rapidly. I rolled into 90 degrees of bank and pulled hard, narrowly missing the whole mess. It turned out to be several hundred seagulls flying in a tightly packed, 100 foot diameter ball. The elapsed time between seeing the faint "smoke" to pulling g's was about 2 seconds.

Center punching that mass of flesh and feathers would have made for a very, very bad day

What is it with me and birds?

Anyway, one more reason to remain vigilant, even when up nice and high.
 
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