The Miracle of Flight & Colorado Wildcats
THE CURRENT JOURNEY
Unlikely Bucket List Item
This past weekend I got to cross an item off my bucket list that I didn’t even know was on the list… going to an airshow. Earlier this year my husband and I watched the Blue Angels documentary, aptly titled “The Blue Angels”. I was surprised at how interesting it was and at how captivated my husband was by the streamlined Super Hornet F/A-18 E/F the pilots flew with unreal precision. So I suggested that we go to see the Blue Angels in person and got tickets for the Colorado Springs Regional Airshow. I actually enjoyed the show and I walked away from all of that amazing technology and the miracle of fligth with a deeper reverence for nature.
If You Can’t Stand the Heat…
We arrived at the show at the U.S. Army’s A/DACG facility in Colorado Springs at noon the day of the show. The temperature had already climbed to the high 90’s, it’s late august after all. The exhibit & viewing area were set up on a large concrete pad and crowded with food vendors and military displays. The only precious shade existed under vendor stands and a few instances where people were allowed to gather under the wing of exhibition planes. These circumstances obviously garnered a great appreciation for grass and trees in my mind and I spent most of the show pining for them as we sat on the hot concrete pouring water on our floppy wide brimmed hats to keep cool.
The Show Starts
Before our attention turned to the sky, a young girl no older than 5 decked out in an american flag tshirt skipped in front of us waving her arms up and down like a crazy bird. “I’m flying Daddy! Just like the planes” she yelled happily. We then watched bi-planes zip through the sky performing impressive feats like loop-de-loops, rolls and stalls in mid-air. Jets pointed towards the sun with amazing agility, zoomed to dizzying heights and then swooped down over the audience in dramatic fashion. All this I found more compelling than I thought I would.
Enter the Blue Angels
At about 2pm it was time for the main event. To begin the Blue Angel festivities, Fat Albert, a C-130J flew around the airstrip showing off just how swift and nimble the burly plane could be. Afterwards, two cobalt blue Super Hornets blazed off the runway and zipped past us like hellions. Immediately after, the remaining 4 planes of the team took to the air and configured themselves into their signature tight diamond formation. I watched in complete awe as the four planes moved through the air as one entity. I was so impressed with human ingenuity, and our skill and technology at that moment, and then it hit me.
Video of the Blue Angels in a diamond formation © 2024 Heather Valey
The Best Ideas are from Nature
Birds did it first. Not only did they inspire our desire to learn to fly, but they inspired the way we fly. The diamond formation of the Blue Angels evokes images of geese flying in formation in autumn as they migrate to more hospitable regions — granted the planes are a hell of a lot faster.
The acrobatics of the stunt planes we saw earlier in the show recalls the carefree nature we see swallows and other insect eating birds display as they perform ridiculous feats of agility while chasing their winged insect prey.
The confidence and precision of the the jets climbing to high altitudes and then thrilling us with a nose dive is reminiscent of raptors hunting.
Well Duh…
Obviously this comes as no surprise, because of course birds inspired us in our pursuit for flight. However I wonder how many people at the airshow were thinking about birds while they were cheering on the Blue Angels aside from me and the little girl flapping her wings?
Still.. Thank the Birds
We have so many reasons to be grateful for nature. It has given humans so much that we take for granted every day, like at the air show. Have you ever looked at wheels and thanked the rolling rocks that inspired such an invention? Have you ever ripped sticky burs off of your socks and thanked them for inspiring velcro? Modern wind turbine blades are modeled after humpback whales. Sonar and radar were inspired by bats. How often do we stop and marvel at that? Personally, I think we need to be a little less impressed with ourselves and alot more impressed with nature and all of its processes and creatures that inspire us. Next time you see a plane… thank the birds.
"I think that I am right in saying that the birds have been among the most inspiring of all the forms of life, not only for their songs and their beauty but also for their mode of flight and their freedom from the bonds that confine us." - John Burroughs
Want to learn more?
The Best 50 Biomimicry Examples (so far)
CONSERVATION CORNER
A Tentative Win for Wildcats!
On the Ballot!
Cat’s Aren’t Trophies (CATs), a passionate non-profit based in Colorado, has successfully gathered enough petition signatures to place a groundbreaking measure on the November ballot. This proposal aims to ban the trophy hunting of mountain lions and the trapping of bobcats. Now, Colorado residents will have the opportunity to make their voices heard on this divisive issue.
Controversy and Misconceptions
The controversy surrounding this issue is undeniable. You'll hear plenty of rhetoric claiming that hunting mountain lions somehow aids in their conservation. Don't be swayed—this is simply not true. What it really does is maintain the status quo, which state wildlife management agencies have long misrepresented as conservation. These systems, designed to be funded by hunters and anglers, are more invested in catering to hunting interests than in genuinely conserving and managing native ecosystems. As a result, conservation concerns for many native species are often overlooked.
Impact on Wildlife
Hunters fear that the ban on mountain lion hunting will adversely effect the elk and deer population, despite scientific evidence to the contrary. In reality, hunting mountain lions rarely increases the ungulate population. (1) Additionally, it is thought that disrupting mountain lions social structures through hunting can actually increase human wildlife conflict and depredation. (2) When mature males are killed, their territories are often taken over by younger less experienced lions who are much more likely to predate on livestock and kill kittens they have not fathered. The overlap of hunting and kitten season also raises the risk of leaving orphaned kittens when females are hunted. After spending months searching for any solid justification for trophy hunting mountain lions, I’ve found none. However, I encourage everyone to do their own research on this contentious issue before casting their vote in November.
Other Relevant Studies to Check Out
The Effects of Remedial Sport Hunting on Cougar Complaints & Livestock Peebles, K. A., Wielgus, R. B., Maletzke, B. T., & Swanson, M. E. (2013)
Source populations in carnivore management: cougar demography and emigration in a lightly hunted population Cooley, H. S., Wielgus, R. B., Koehler, G. M., & Maletzke, B. T. (2009).
CATs Sponsored Talks
If you’re interested in learning more about the ballot issue. CATs will be hosting talks around the Denver Front Range - RSVP to: mark@catsarenttrophies.org
Evergreen Public Library 8/22. 6 pm-7pm
Arvada Public Library 8/26 12pm -1pm
Aurora Central Library 8/27 11am-12pm
Douglas County Library (Parker) 8/28 2:30pm -3:30pm
Douglas County Library (Castle Pines) 8/29 12pm -1pm
Denver Central Library 9/3 5:30pm -6:30pm
Bear Valley Branch Library 9/14 1pm -2pm
Lakewood Library 9/14 4-5pm
"A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." - Aldo Leopold
Amazing photos
Great article, Heather! I used to teach bio mimicry by at our zoo high school. It’s incredible how much we’ve applied from watching nature!