Shadow of Flight
by Kevin J. Lin
Over Columbus Day weekend yours truly received his Hang I rating, the
first rating for Hang Glider pilots. I did so flying a Falcon 195.
When the sun is directly over head and the Falcon is on flat level ground,
and with its wings level with the Earth, it casts a shadow measuring 195
square feet.
During one flight, when I was about thirty feet off the ground I glanced
down at my shadow and thought, "Gulp."
After landing, I wondered, what was the area of the Falcon's shadow when
I was thirty feet off the ground? Assume the sun was directly overhead,
a level ground, and level plane of flight.