We’ve all seen the failure videos at some point or another. The ridiculous contraptions recorded falling to pieces on silent, black and white film that are always included in montages of early 20th century culture and history with a lively big band tune playing in the background. You know, these types of things:
Flight has been something that has fascinated humans for millennia and logically the first ideas about recreating it came from nature. As early as the 4th Century BCE, there are legends involving ornithopters and wings made for people out of feathers. These stories eventually developed into actual designs like those of Leonardo DaVinci in the late 1400’s.
Da Vinci's ornithopter design.
As time progressed, some designs allowed for gliding, but there were no ornithopters created that allowed for actual, human-powered, flapping flight. That is, until recent history. In 1929, Alexander Lippisch’s invention flew about 250 meters, which, although some argued was merely an extended glide prompted by a tow launch, others claimed was true flapping flight which was only hindered by the fact that humans tire easily. From this point forward, the development of ornithopters proceeded at an increasingly faster rate, much like most of the rest of modern technology.
Today, there has most definitely been progress in ornithopter technology. There are many manned and unmanned ornithopters that work quite well today and are even developed for military use due to their similar appearance to birds and insects. They even take shape in the form of hobby’s for craftsmen and participants in the Science Olympics.
According to a source, ornithopters run on an engine which runs flapping wings that create thrust and lift for the craft. The wings are connected by a section at the center that is moved up and down to create the flapping motion. “The wings’ thrust is due primarily to a low-pressure region around the leading edge, which integrates to provide a force known as ‘leading-edge suction’.”
Sometimes imitating nature is not a good idea. As seen by the many different types of flying machines today, ornithopters are not the most reliable, or the most efficient. In fact, they are probably some of the worst in both categories, but without the ornithopter as an initial starting point to foyers in human flight, would we be flying today? The beginning interest in flight, so many years ago, may have lead no where without the failed attempts of many centuries and the need to keep trying again and again.
Man, a curious and daring creature, has always dreamed of flight. Before the invention of the hot air balloon and the airplane, he looked towards nature for his inspiration, and what he saw was one of her most brilliant and graceful creations—the bird. Now, in a time when artificial flight is not only feasible but now becoming increasingly commonplace, it seems, without doubt, that man has accomplished this feat once and for all. Yet, even with all of mankind's great advancements in the field of aerial locomotion, none have been so successful as to emulate the original, the genuine. That is to say, no airplane nor helicopter nor any other instrument we have conceived has been able to reproduce the flight of birds, one of natures pristine examples of efficient and adept flight.
Thus, though it may seem trivial, it is with great significance that in March of this year, 2011, a German Robotics company, Festo, unveiled its latest in a string of mechanical innovations - the SmartBird. The SmartBird is the first step to utilization of the science behind the flight of birds. The following is a video of 'SmartBird' in flight':
The SmartBird is inspired by the Herring Gull, and although on the surface it looks rather simple, in reality, the SmartBird is a wonder in itself and an artifact to scientists and engineers studying aerodynamics. In designing the SmartBird, Festo employed wings which do not only beat up and down, but rotate and change angles in order to control flight. Just like a real bird, the SmartBird's head and torso bend in order to maneuver aerodynamically and manipulate such forces as drag and angular momentum. On top of all this, the SmartBird's tail acts as a pitch elevator and yaw rudder in order to control direction.
The SmartBird's wings move up and down but also rotate and change angles for aerodynamic flight.
One truly remarkable feat which researchers at Festo were able to accomplish through the SmartBird is that the device is able to take off and land on its own similar to a real bird. The ultralight aerodynamic materials put into designing the SmartBird allow this to happen. It is said that the SmartBird mimics nature so well that real gulls cannot tell the difference.
SmartBird compared to a common Gull
Ultimately the real weight of this accomplishment does not stem from the feat itself - at the end of the day, the SmartBird is but a very expensive and complex imitation seagull. However it is what the SmartBird symbolizes which gives it is place in history. The SmartBird is proof that after all these centuries mankind has finally gained the means of reproducing nature in artificial forms. The SmartBird is but a stepping stone in man's drive to decipher the mysterious works of nature and then apply these understandings to his own creations.
Flying fish are seen jumping out of warm ocean waters, the way their body is shaped, like a torpedo, enables them to gather enough speed to break the surface of water and their large wing-like fins are used to get them airborne. There are about 40 known species of flying fish, and all of them have unevenly forked tails, with the lower part longer than the upper one.
Flying fish use this gliding mechanism to escape the many predators of the sea that might be hunting them down. To be able to break the surface of water and get airborne they must first accelerate to a speed of about 60 kilometers (37 miles) an hour, while angling themselves upwards. They then begin to taxi by beating their tails rapidly while still in the water in order to break the surface. When airborne it can flap its tail to keep gliding with the help of its wing-like fins.
Flying fish from Mario
Flying fish can reach heights of up to 1.2 meters (4 feet) and gliding distances of up to 200 meters (655 feet). Flying fish have been recorded stretching out their flights with consecutive glides spanning distances up to 400 meters (1312 feet) by flapping its tail in order to taxi before actually reaching the surface of water.
Some species of flying fish have larger pelvic fins and are known as four-winged flying fish.
This gliding mechanism could be incorporated into submarines, in order to give them an evasive mechanism in order to dodge incoming torpedoes for example.
Many people look at pigeons as a nuisance, defecating on cars and statues while causing general chaos in many cities across the globe. These “rats with wings,” however, do have a very interesting way in which they fly, by utilizing very dynamic wings to adjust their flight speed and even “hover” in a way. This effect is based entirely off of the way that the bird orients its wings.
Pigeons in different stages of flight. Credit: Wikipedia, Toby Hudson, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Domestic_Pigeon_Flock.jpg
When a pigeon stretches out its wings, it has more surface area to propel itself at an elevated velocity (like in the Boeing 747 & Boeing 737 example used in the class lecture). This enables them to “move more air on the down stroke, making it go much faster.” Pigeons are able to push harder with these outstretched wings, but they then also tuck them in to reduce air friction and reload for another flap. While this does not allow them to fly nearly as fast as the rocketing peregrine falcons, who can fly at upwards of 160 mph (though they generally only average around 70 mph)), pigeons are able to fly upwards of 70 mph over long distances, sometimes reaching a maximum of nearly 95 mph! Many scientists and pigeon enthusiasts alike consider Columbia livia [the rock pigeon] to be among the fastest species of birds because of this sustained high velocity flight.
Credit: C. J. Pennycuic http://jeb.biologists.org/content/46/2/219.full.pdf
Another unique adaptation of the common pigeon is that they possess the ability to “hover” for short periods of time. The pigeon readjusts her wings to counteract the gravitational force and balance them with the generated lift. This down stroke acts almost like a parachute, dramatically slowing the descent. The minute lift generated negates the effect of the bird’s weight and allows it to maintain a steady altitude. In addition to this maneuver, the pigeon utilizes an “inverted loading” caused by a wing 'flick' on the upstroke of the slow flapping motions. This causes a shift in the horizontal forces, slowing the speed of the bird and allowing them to stabilize in a fairly fixed location. While pigeons cannot hover in a conventional sense like helicopters, insects, or hummingbirds, this slow decent gives the illusion of such ability, though it definitely does provide increased control and stability for the bird.
Pigeon flight is very unique. Although the birds are very common in everyday life, relatively little is known about their flight techniques and patterns. Though we as humans may not always like sharing our environment with these pests, we can learn a great deal about flight from these feathered friends.
Here's another interesting video I found, not necessarily relevant, but still:
The penguins we see at the zoo today are distinctively different from many other birds due to their lack of ability to fly. Although, is flight something that can only be achieved in the air? Penguins might not be able to fly majestically as the bald eagle in the skies, but they're capable of doing such under the sea.
Most species of flightless birds, including penguins, can be traced back to their ancestors, who were able to fly. Studies from fossils show that the early lineages of penguins had feathered wings and were gifted with the ability of flight. Unfortunately, as time elapsed and the Earth's environment changed, penguins lost flight. In return, they developed aquatic abilities (i.e. swimming, diving deep underwater, etc.) as they adapted to their new wet environments of the southern hemisphere.
On land, a penguin's "wings" and tail is used to maintain balance for their upright stance. Yet again, the moment they enter the water, their wings turn into power flippers allowing them to swiftly maneuver around. Surprisingly, the swimming motion penguins make closely resembles the flapping motion of birds when they fly. To increase the maximum output of thrust, they twist their flippers as they push down on the water; this motion can also be seen in fruit flies and many other insects. Additionally, like how the peregrine falcon repositions its body during a hunting dive to reach maximum speed, the penguins lower their heads when they swim so their body creates less drag.
A penguins flippers are very similar to the wings of planes. Even though their small flippers prevents them from flying, it allows them to be agile. If penguins were to have a large wing span, they will not be swift enough to evade their predators. This idea is similar as to why fighter jets are intentionally made with small wings, causing it to be unstable.
