did my first flips today, and then got attacked by a bird.

[Derfman]

First, i want to say thank you to all of you. theres a bunch of good info in here, and today i did my first flip. it was actually pretty clean looking, and i made sure to be gentle on the sticks.

on my second battery, i was hovering about 35 feet in the air, then out of nowhere this brown streak came down and crashed into my helicopter. it was a bird, im not sure what kind it was, but it was knocked out for a good 2-3 minutes. then it opened its eyes, and stayed on its back for another 5 minutes. it finally stood up, and just sat in one place for another 5 mins.

poor bird. in the 3rd pic, it looks like one of the wings are messed up.

[dogtoy]

Hmm it kind of looks like a predator bird ,...maybe we need a canopy painted like an owl to prevent these type of attacks,....

[d12bn]

Congratulations on the flip. Bird looks like a small hawk. So what happened to the bird?

[Drivinfast247]

That would be a Peregrine Falcon, I believe.

I bet he's saying "What the Hell was that?!?!", in the last pic. Lol

Had the heli been brushless, I'm sure he wouldn't be getting up.

[motoracer5]

Hopefully he tells the other birds to watch the hell out! A sparrow attacked my 400 once, I felt so bad. Little guy had some gusto to attack that thing. I tried to make up for it by saving humming birds from a cat hanging out killing them. He got 2 I chased it away, then it came back. I have not seen the cat again after his ordeal with my Savage Flux though..... should be quite put off to killing little birds now!

Did the bird end up flying?

[Derfman]

Originally Posted by d12bn

Congratulations on the flip. Bird looks like a small hawk. So what happened to the bird?

it was a hot day, so my friend and I stood blocking the sun to give him some shade. then we called animal control, because we honestly didn't know what to do. i assumed that if we just left it there the neighborhood cats would get it.

Animal control came, and put on some gloves, right when he was about an inch away, the bird just took off.

I've never seen anything like it. Seriously this bird just came straight at the mcpx at top speed.

[Derfman]

Originally Posted by motoracer5

Hopefully he tells the other birds to watch the hell out! A sparrow attacked my 400 once, I felt so bad. Little guy had some gusto to attack that thing. I tried to make up for it by saving humming birds from a cat hanging out killing them. He got 2 I chased it away, then it came back. I have not seen the cat again after his ordeal with my Savage Flux though..... should be quite put off to killing little birds now!

Did the bird end up flying?

yes. it took awhile, but he flew away.

you could easily tell that the bird was in shock or something, because when it finally got on its feet, it just stood there looking dazed.

[Derfman]

anyways, what do you guys think? did the bird mistaken the mcpx for dinner? or was it some sort of "get outta my territory" type deal?

[itsmillertime0]

Originally Posted by Drivinfast247

That would be a Peregrine Falcon, I believe.

I bet he's saying "What the Hell was that?!?!", in the last pic. Lol

Had the heli been brushless, I'm sure he wouldn't be getting up.

Ha, that's exactly what I was thinking when I looked at the last pic. I like the owl canopy idea, we need a way to stop the bird on heli violence.

[c3hutson]

Very cool looking bird!


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[65L88]

Originally Posted by Drivinfast247

That would be a Peregrine Falcon, I believe.

I bet he's saying "What the Hell was that?!?!", in the last pic. Lol

Had the heli been brushless, I'm sure he wouldn't be getting up.

American Kestrel. You're right about it being in the falcon family, though it's only robin sized, a Peregrine is about the size of a crow. Glad it appears to be ok. I'm betting it was looking for dinner.

[burnoutboy]

Definitally a Kestrel or Sparrow Hawk as they're commonly known. There's a TON of Peregrine Falcons around here and my first thought was that that guy was too small. If an adult peregrine attacked your heli the heli wouldn't make it out alive. They dive at roughly 200MPH and hit their prey mid flight at full speed!

[Angrydad]

Awesome looking bird, glad he lived to tell the tale - bet that right wing's a bit sore though!
I bet the MCPX looked like dinner to him. He may be a bit more cautious in the future lol
I remember once I was skeet shooting, my friend's shot, the target shot up out of the bunker and a bird swooped on it - just as my friend had it lined up and had pulled the trigger...I don't need to tell you the outcome. Very unlucky bird indeed

[Tasteles]

from wikipedia:

The American Kestrel hunts by hovering in the air with rapid wing beats or perching and scanning the ground for prey. Its diet typically consists of grasshoppers, lizards, mice, and other small birds. It nests in cavities in trees, cliffs, buildings, and other structures.

I would think the mcpx is a little bigger than a small bird though. It's definately a Kestrel though.

[Derfman]

Originally Posted by 65L88

American Kestrel. You're right about it being in the falcon family, though it's only robin sized, a Peregrine is about the size of a crow. Glad it appears to be ok. I'm betting it was looking for dinner.

yea the bird looked fairly small, i thought it was like a baby hawk or something. very nice colors and pattern.

[gdawgs56]

nice story!! Did it do any damage to your "bird"?

[cp11]

Any advice on doing flips? Everything goes ok until I get inverted at the top.

[Derfman]

Originally Posted by gdawgs56

nice story!! Did it do any damage to your "bird"?

i had some really beaten up landing skids, and they finally broke, but that was it. no other problems.

[Derfman]

Originally Posted by cp11

Any advice on doing flips? Everything goes ok until I get inverted at the top.

i just did everything in slow motion. i was messing up before, because i wasnt being gentle enough with the sticks, and probably moving the sticks a little too hard and fast.

[Holly]

Another vote for the Kestrel. Peregrine Falcons look different:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_Falcon