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This strikes me as supporting the "downwind turn" theory

Posted by spork on 30 Nov 2014 at 07:05 GMT

The authors conclude that:

"With regard to the theory of wind-gradient soaring, this means that the wind gradient itself is insignificant for the gain of energy. The energy gain is rather due to the change in flight direction from windward to leeward in the upper curve."

If I interpret that correctly it would suggest that the albatross could perform the dynamic soaring maneuver in the absence of gradient - as long as there was sufficient steady wind. Surely this cannot be the case as we know that any experiment performed in one inertial reference frame will yield the same results when performed in any other inertial frame - thus implying that the bird could perform the maneuver in the absence of wind.

I hope I'm somehow interpreting this conclusion incorrectly.

No competing interests declared.
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