An unladen swallow may fly at around 11meters per second, but common sense suggests that if the swallow is carrying extra mass (i.e. is laden, and not too heavily) it will have to work harder just to stay in the air, and will have less capacity to make forward progress through the air.
Christoph Schiller, author of the Motion Mountain free physics text book, reproduces a graph (on page 41 in the 21st version) by Henk Tennekes (probably from his book The Simple Science of Flight: From Insects to Jumbo Jets) that appears to show that there is a direct relationship between wing loading and cruising speed for both birds and aircraft, such that higher wing loadings are directly related to higher cruising speed. I queried Schiller on this point and was brushed off.
It seems to me that, in the case of any particular model of fixed-wing aircraft, a heavier load (giving a higher wing loading) increases the craft's weight and the wings would have to operate at a higher angle of attack in order to generate more lift for the same airspeed. The higher angle of attack would give rise to more drag which would tend to slow the craft down, assuming that the thrust remained the same.
So there you have it. Christoph Schiller (a physicist) seems to quote Henk Tennekes (supposedly an expert in aerodynamics, and part-time climate-change skeptic) as claiming the velocity would be higher in the laden case, whereas common sense and my high-school physics suggests that a heavily laden flyer will make slower forward progress.
12.2 feet per second :) depending on whether it's African or European.
The airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow (both African and European). This is in the beginning of the movie, when two knights at a castle argue over whether or not coconuts migrate and if 2 swallows could carry a coconut to Europe. Another could be the determination of a witch, which (haha, see what i did there?) is found by thinking of things that float on water. The conclusion is that since a duck floats on water, if a person weighs the same as a duck, then they are a witch.
The mass of a sparrow ranges from about 12 g to 42 g. For more information, please see the Related Link below.
A unladen swallow is the opposite of a laden swallow.
What do you mean, an African or a European Swallow
The average velocity of an unladen swallow would depend on the specific species of swallow, prevailing wind conditions, and flight path taken. Swallows are known to fly at speeds ranging from 20 to 35 miles per hour.
African or European? Well, Suppose it was two swallows?
The average air speed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is approximately 20.1 miles per hour or 9 meters per second. However, this can vary depending on wind conditions and other factors.
The average swallow flies at at a cruising speed of 15 beats per second and an amplitude of 22 cm.
The average airspeed velocity of an unladen European Swallow is about 20.1 miles per hour or 32.4 kilometers per hour. However, this varies depending on the conditions and individual bird.
The air speed velocity of an unladen swallow is approximately 20.1 miles per hour or 32.4 kilometers per hour. This is based on a European Swallow, as famously referenced in Monty Python's "Quest for the Holy Grail."
I always heard the question as wingspan, not wing velocity, but either way, there is no hummingbird named the African Hummingbird (although there is a moth known as the African Hummingbird Moth). If you want actual info on hummingbirds, a hummingbirds wings will beat about seventy (70) times per second while in regular flight and up to 200 times per second when diving.
It was a Monty Python joke. A real swallow could not carry coconuts. However, the airspeed of an unladen swallow is 24 miles per hour.
Typically unladen.
It depends on if it is carrying a coconut or not. An unladen swallow can fly at about 10 meters per second. It is 384,400 kilometers to the moon, so it would take the swallow 1 year, 2 months, 18 days, 18 hours, 59 minutes and 46 seconds to get there. A fully laden swallow would take longer.