Avian Air Sleds (Patreon)

Air sleds were used historically on the avian homeworld as a faster alternative to ships. Since the land all of the flighted avian species lived on was typically scattered islands (many not bigger than the Hawaiian islands), over-land transport remained undeveloped for centuries since the ocean posed a bigger hurdle.

An air sled at its smallest unit is basically an airplane wing full of cargo, pulled by a sapient avian or by flying livestock. The cargo inside has to be carefully balanced by weight, and livestock driven sleds typically have an assisting sapient crew clinging to the back with their wings open to provide additional lift. In their heyday, massive air sled fleets would have units launched individually and then joined mid-flight to maximize the efficiency of the airfoil and the weight of cargo a single seagoose or avian could pull.