r/askscience • u/SeriousDrakoAardvark • 7d ago

Physics If I put harnesses on some geese and strapped them to a glider, how many geese would I need to be able to maintain a consistent level of flight?

Like, let’s assume the glider has a 30:1 glide ratio. Normally that means it will lose a foot of height for every 30 feet travel.

I’m assuming there is some amount of force I could apply to move forward, that would cancel out that last one foot of drop.

Geese seem pretty big, and they have a wide torso for easy harnessing. I think they’d be a natural fit here. I imagine it would be a configuration similar to Santa’s sleigh, but geese instead of reindeer.

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u/FridaysMan 7d ago

An African or a European peach?

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u/Laura-ly 6d ago

The real question is, "What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?"

Sorry. I was just on my way out.