![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
potato_headOkay guys, thoughts on the realism of someone being able to fire arrows from the back of an airborne dragon?
I'm thinking here: a dragon between 2-3x the size of a horse, gliding in very low, probably the same altitude as the target.
I think the main concerns would be draft from the wings (wings redirect air even if they're in glide position, yes? Or is that just airplane wings? what a ridiculous question, everything moving through air changes air flow) and speed.
IDK I'll probably have to do a lot of research on how wings work and airflow around them and plausible speeds for archers and things like that. Are there factors I'm not thinking of?
PS if any of you saw any of the posts that I put up earlier, oh god, please forget you ever saw those xDDD they were not meant to be public, but a few were for all of...a few seconds.
I'm thinking here: a dragon between 2-3x the size of a horse, gliding in very low, probably the same altitude as the target.
I think the main concerns would be draft from the wings (
IDK I'll probably have to do a lot of research on how wings work and airflow around them and plausible speeds for archers and things like that. Are there factors I'm not thinking of?
PS if any of you saw any of the posts that I put up earlier, oh god, please forget you ever saw those xDDD they were not meant to be public, but a few were for all of...a few seconds.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-20 02:05 pm (UTC)But yeah, I'd suggest watching some slo-mo flight footage of different animals. The thing about being on a dragon's back while it's flying is, even if said dragon is in a dive or glide, they won't be totally motionless, and depending on where the archer is sitting there could be a good deal of movement of the muscle underneath. The wings and head, additionally, may be blocking the shot.
Which is not to say archery from dragon back would be impossible (the fact that it is a dragon lends itself to some suspension of disbelief anyway), but for reality of situation, your character might want to take that into account. Horseback riders try to think of their upper body and their lower body as two separate entities- the pelvis becomes part of the animal they are riding and moves in compliment to the animal's movements, where the shoulders and torso remain still. It might be worth mentioning that they are accustomed to the heaving and wind adjustments of their mount's muscles!
As for the forces acting on the arrow, my go-to solution would probably be arrows made of special materials that had magical properties, but I don't know how much magic is included in the world you have envisioned or whether the character has access to it even if it is a factor so that might not be a viable option for you. Beyond that I can't help because I'm absolutely rubbish at physics.
no subject
Date: 2013-01-20 06:45 pm (UTC)And you are amazing~ thanks for all the info! Part of the issue is that while dragons can use magic here, humans can't, under ordinary circumstances. There might be a solution though, if the arrows incorporated some part of the dragon...shed scales or something...I'll have to think about it. It might be workable though, since magic here takes the pretty direct form of imposing your will on the world around you...
And thinking about it, the wings being in the way would be a definite issue, I wasn't even considering that. It'll at least definitely affect his position on the dragon...
Alright, I'M OFF TO WATCH SLOW-MO VIDEOS OF ANIMALS :D