An Investigation of Dynamic Soaring and its Applications to the Albatross and RC Sailplanes

Dynamic soaring is a technique used the sea bird the Albatross. This technique allows for the bird to stay in the air for extended periods of time with very little effort. Dynamic soaring utilizes the wind gradient on the surface of the ocean to maintain its airspeed. A similar technique is used by RC glider pilots to achieve high speeds by using the shear wind layer on the leeward side of mountain ridges. Abstract 2 Table of Contents 2 List of Figures 2 Nomenclature 2 Introduction 3 Background 3 Methodology Results 4 Conclusion 8 Reference List 9 List of Figures Figure 1: Dynamic Soaring Maneuver of the Albatross Figure 2: Inclination angle from video 1 Figure 3: Inclination angle from video 2 Figure 4: Inclination angle from video 3 Figure 5: The energy height of the flight path of video 1 plotted on constant energy height contours Figure 6: The energy height of the flight path of video 2 plotted on constant energy height contours Figure 7: The energy height of the flight path of video 3 plotted on constant energy height contours Nomenclature T = period ω = angular velocity R = radius V = groundspeed h = altitude Ze = energy height θ = inclination angle 3