Aircraft engineers are still birdwatchin'....

University of Michigan researchers explain why aircraft engineers are still bird-watching....

A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.

The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

Select military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G. Many birds routinely experience positive G-forces greater than 10 G and up to 14 G.

And you wonder why brilliant financial engineers over engineered mortgage derivatives that led to a global credit crisis. Nothing to beat plain common sense and keen observation of simple things around. You agree...?

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