Do you think there should have been a contrivance to pre-empt the Eagles question?

[Marwhini]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

Heeehee, the orcs are a lot like Ewoks. But this video goes with the idea of the shooting tower, or that there is a physical/military reason why Eagles can't fly into Mordor (which still doesn't explain why they couldn't have carried the Fellowship from Rivendell until near the borders of Mordor in a single day).

Eagles don't fly long distances by flapping their wings. They actually can't fly long distances by flapping their wings.

To fly any distance, a Raptor of any kind needs to gain a pretty great altitude and then soar for a long distance.

The distance traveled (roughly 900 miles) would have taken about five days for Eagles to cross that distance, as they are not migratory birds who have large pectoral and wing muscles to utilized powered flight over long distances (i.e. they fly slow over long distances).

So it would not allow them to make the Trip in a single day. To give an idea of a trip the Eagles can make in a single day: Orthanc to Edoras. Or Lórien to Fangorn. They might be able to get a bit further in a big rush.

But a flock of Giant Eagles rushing about the sky is going to send up more than a few red flags from the "Bad Guys."

I went over this in my post above.

To use the Eagles would have immediately exposed the One Ring to both Saruman and Sauron, even if it was just bringing them closer to Mordor. It would not have been "in Secret" at all, but rather a giant Advertising Sign: "Here we are!!!"

Eagles can't "Sneak."

All it would do would be to reveal the plan.

MB