(January 1, 2023 at 10:32 am)LinuxGal Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 10:29 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: yeah, a WWII airplane can also be killed by a single well placed bullet, but they still built AA guns up to 6 inches in bore to shoot them down

That's so they could miss and still knock holes in planes with flak.

Makes sense with unguided projectiles.

Good vid on German FLAK here:

(January 1, 2023 at 6:27 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:

(December 31, 2022 at 7:58 pm)LinuxGal Wrote: Going by the Peter Jackson movie, Saruman had a monopoly on black powder.  And he had suicide bombers too.

In any discussion of LOTR, do NOT try 'going by the Peter Jackson movie.' Ever.

Boru

sounds like the high priest is trying to stamp out iconoclasty.  😃

(January 1, 2023 at 12:53 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 6:27 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: In any discussion of LOTR, do NOT try 'going by the Peter Jackson movie.' Ever.

Boru

sounds like the high priest is trying to stamp out iconoclasty.  😃

Quite the reverse.

Iconoclasm is the rejection of Internet memes as heretical.

(January 1, 2023 at 10:50 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 7:47 am)Helios Wrote: Magic or not they can still be killed by simple arrows. The Eagles themselves mention this in the Hobbit.

How high do they fly? It's gotta be pretty high if they could get over the mountains of Mordor. I wanna be able to reach out and touch them with something nice.

They can fly high. But then you have to factor in Ringwraiths and Sauron's command of other winged beasts who can also fly high. Also, Sauron's power over the wider world may be diminished but his control over the land of Mordor is potent including its weather so there number of ways he could impair the eagles though in his weakened state it would be taxing. So even high up they are not safe.

(January 1, 2023 at 6:17 pm)Helios Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 10:50 am)Thumpalumpacus Wrote: How high do they fly? It's gotta be pretty high if they could get over the mountains of Mordor. I wanna be able to reach out and touch them with something nice.

They can fly high. But then you have to factor in Ringwraiths and Sauron's command of other winged beasts who can also fly high. Also, Sauron's power over the wider world may be diminished but his control over the land of Mordor is potent including its weather so there number of ways he could impair the eagles though in his weakened state it would be taxing. So even high up they are not safe.

He's only got nine Nazgul. And what if the eagles equipped for IFR?

I don’t know, the fell beasts with their sharp spines sticking out along their backs, unnecessary long tail dangling behind them, and legs and feet that doesn’t tuck next to their bodies while in the air, looks far more optimized for wicked and fearsome appearance than for low drag, high lift and other necessities of efficient flight.

So if we think the fell beasts and eagles are not creatures of magic, and instead obey normal biomechanics and aerodynamic rules, then it looks to me like the eagles should be far better fliers and should be able to outfly them as easily as a WWII P-51 can outfly a WWI Gotha bomber.

Of course if creatures that size obeyed normal biomechanical and aerodynamic rules, then neither the eagle nor the fell beasts would be able to fly at all.  But who is counting.

(January 1, 2023 at 6:47 pm)Anomalocaris Wrote: I don’t know, the fell beasts with their sharp spines sticking out along their backs, unnecessary long tail dangling behind them, and legs and feet that doesn’t tuck next to their bodies while in the air, looks far more optimized for wicked and fearsome appearance than for low drag, high lift and other necessities of efficient flight.

So if we think the fell beasts and eagles are not creatures of magic, and instead obey normal biomechanics and aerodynamic rules, then it looks to me like the eagles should be far better fliers and should be able to outfly them as easily as a WWII P-51 can outfly a WWI Gotha bomber.

Of course if creatures that size obeyed normal biomechanical and aerodynamic rules, then neither the eagle nor the fell beasts would be able to fly at all.  But who is counting.

And if my mum had wheels, she would have been a bike.

Boru

(January 1, 2023 at 6:31 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 6:17 pm)Helios Wrote: They can fly high. But then you have to factor in Ringwraiths and Sauron's command of other winged beasts who can also fly high. Also, Sauron's power over the wider world may be diminished but his control over the land of Mordor is potent including its weather so there number of ways he could impair the eagles though in his weakened state it would be taxing. So even high up they are not safe.

He's only got nine Nazgul. And what if the eagles equipped for IFR?

He only really needs nine Nazguls as there aren't that many eagles left in Arda by the third age. and I'm curious how you would equip an eagle that way.

(January 1, 2023 at 7:19 pm)Helios Wrote: He only really needs nine Nazguls as there aren't that many eagles left in Arda by the third age. and I'm curious how you would equip an eagle that way.

Why, bionics, of course.

(January 1, 2023 at 6:31 pm)Thumpalumpacus Wrote:

(January 1, 2023 at 6:17 pm)Helios Wrote: They can fly high. But then you have to factor in Ringwraiths and Sauron's command of other winged beasts who can also fly high. Also, Sauron's power over the wider world may be diminished but his control over the land of Mordor is potent including its weather so there number of ways he could impair the eagles though in his weakened state it would be taxing. So even high up they are not safe.

He's only got nine Nazgul. And what if the eagles equipped for IFR?

True there are only nine Nazgûl, but we don’t know how many of the airborne fell beasts Sauron had in reserve. It’s like saying the Magnificent Seven only had access to seven horses.

Boru