Had an old friend pass me a story this morning that I got to share with all you vet's..... & fighter pilot fans....

This from a fighter pilot who runs a 2000 acre corn farm up around Barron WI, not far from Oshkosh. He used to fly F4Es and F-16s for the Guard and participated in the first Gulf War...
Submitted for your enjoyment, and as a reminder that there are other great, magnificent flyers around.

The Great Air Battle

I went out to plant corn for a bit to finish a
field before tomorrow morning and witnessed The Great Battle.

A golden eagle - a big bastard, about six foot
wingspan - flew right in front of the
tractor. It was being chased by three crows that
were continually dive bombing it and pecking at
it. The crows do this because the eagles rob their nests when they find them.

At any rate, the eagle banked hard right in one
evasive maneuver, then landed in the field about
100 feet from the tractor. This eagle stood
about 3 feet tall. The crows all landed too and
took up positions around the eagle at 120° apart,
but kept their distance at about 20 feet from the
big bird. The eagle would take a couple steps
towards one of the crows and they'd hop backwards
and forward to keep their distance.

Then, the reinforcements showed up.

I happened to spot the eagle's mate hurtling down
out of the sky at what appeared to be
approximately Mach 1.5. Just before impact, the
eagle on the ground took flight, and the three
crows which were watching the grounded eagle,
also took flight thinking they were going to get
in some more pecking on the big bird. The first
crow being targeted by the diving eagle never
stood a snowball's chance in hell.
There was a mid-air explosion of black feathers
and that crow was done. The diving eagle then
banked hard left in what had to be a 9G climbing
turn, using the energy it had accumulated in the
dive, and hit crow #2 less than two seconds later. Another crow dead.

The grounded eagle, which was now airborne and
had an altitude advantage on the remaining crow,
which was streaking eastward in full burner, made
a short dive then banked hard right when the
escaping crow tried to evade the hit. It didn't
work - crow #3 bit the dust at about 20 feet altitude.

This aerial battle was better than any airshow
I've been to, including the warbirds show at
Oshkosh! The two eagles ripped the crows apart
and ate them on the ground, and as I got closer
and closer working my way across the field, I
passed within 20 feet of one of them as it ate
its catch. It stopped and looked at me as I went
by and you could see in the look of that bird
that it knew who's Boss Of The Sky. What a beaut !!

(Thanx & a tip o' the Stetson to my internet Pal Jim G)