SAFA Skysailor Magazine

33 January | February 2022 SKY SAILOR In May of 1985, I was in my hang glider at over 15,000ft above Box Elder Peak, Utah. During the flight I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, turned and saw a young golden eagle above, following me. I removed my full sized 35mm camera from a pouch in my harness adjusted the aperture, focus and zoom. and took a picture. He continued to follow me as I circled in a large thermal. I started to do hammerhead stalls and dives, reaching speeds of at least 80mph during the dive, then climbing steeply until my glider stalled. I repeated this manoeu- vre six to eight times. I focused my camera, opened the aperture to speed the exposure time of the shot and at the bottom of the next dive, I spun the glider around into a steep win- gover, essentially stopping mid-air, prepared to take a picture with one hand. The young eagle had been drawn into complacency by the repetition of the hammerhead manoeuvres and was surprised by my abrupt change of flight pattern – like doing a doughnut in the fast lane of the freeway. He had to fan his tail and wingtips and was back pedaling, swerving to avoid a mid-air collision. I repeated several more hammerhead manoeuvres and prepared to take another picture. When I slammed the nose up into another wingover, this time the young eagle was ready. He sped by barely missing me. At this point, the young golden eagle and I had an undeclared competition to establish who the better pilot was. The size of the thermal we were in gave me the advantage. Discouraged or embarrassed, he flew away shortly after. Encounter with a Golden Eagle by Lance Merrill