[HPforGrownups] Re: Mechanics of Broom Flight

Lady Macbeth LadyMacbeth at unlimited-mail.com
Wed Jun 16 00:36:08 UTC 2004


No: HPFGUIDX 101487

The Sergeant Majorette says

How about this: the body movement in relation to the broom controls
speed, and steering pressure applied through the arms (If your arms
are more or less rigid as mine would be on my first broom ride, you'd
be leaning forward and pushing down) controls direction.

Of course, I can't even play the stupid Quidditch video game. And
I've never seen a pre-Potter picture of a traditional broom-rider
that was anything but a female, generally riding sidesaddle, which
has got to be the only sensible way to do it...

--JDR

Lady Macbeth says:

Sensible once you get the hang of it.  This is something I know from too
many years sitting on rail fences and parallel bars - it's easy to lose your
balance and fall over backward sitting sidesaddle if you don't know what
you're doing.  (Actually, same thing can be said on horseback, but the
horse's saddle is usually wider than a broom handle or a metal bar.)  Then,
on a bar, whether you tip forward or backward, you have to know how to right
yourself or you find yourself either hanging underneath it with your arms in
an uncomfortable position or on the ground.

The anime series "Mahou Tsukai Tai" played off of "stereotypical" witches -
hence the pointy black hats and the wands and the brooms and etc.  The one
thing I enjoy about the show is that the inexperienced fliers ride their
brooms in the manner of Harry Potter - bristles to the back, straddling the
broom handle (which is easiest to keep balance and direction).  The more
experienced fliers ride however comfortable; Aburatsubo often rides
sidesaddle and Takeo is shown here riding with one leg up for balance.
http://carnage.fanfic.org/mahoutsukaitai.jpg

On this pic
http://aninet.opticore.net/UAD/MTT/images/gallery/mtt_off-documents_front.jp
g we see Sae from a front view flying as the Harry Potter witches do.  The
difference here is that the brooms in Mahou Tsukai Tai don't have cushioning
charms on them, so Sae is compensating by redistributing her weight - she's
actually not quite resting her bum on the broom handle and is using her
knees and thighs to hold her body weight while her arm is pinioned in a
central position to maintain balance.  (If her other hand weren't holding
her hat in place due to a rapid ascent she would have that hand in front of
the other and would be leaning forward slightly.)

Old texts in our world often show witches riding with the bristles forward
(as has been referenced in other messages on this list).  While there is a
magical reason for doing this, if smooth flight were the only concern, it
wouldn't be the best approach - the extra width and weight in the front
would be just that much more that you would have to haul around with your
hands rather than letting wind and gravity do the work.

-Lady Macbeth


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