Via See You at Enceladus, a Canadian team has succeeded in making a flapping-wing airplane:
Yesterday Dr. James DeLaurier, an aeronautical engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto’s Institute for Aerospace Studies, fulfilled a lifelong dream, seeing his manned mechanical flapping-wing airplane, or ornithopter, fly ? a dream first imagined by Leonardo da Vinci.
And with the successful flight DeLaurier has been lucky enough to touch what many describe as the Holy Grail of aeronautical design, achieving a place for himself, his team of volunteers and students in aviation history.
The flapper, as it’s affectionately known, sustained flight over about a third of a kilometre for 14 seconds at about 10:20 a.m. before being hit by a crosswind and almost flipping over, damaging the nose and front wheel on the runway at Downsview Park.
I’m not sure what the point is, but a flapping-wing airplane (or ornithopter) is pretty cool. There’s probably video of the flight somewhere, but I can’t get to the Toronto group’s web site, so you’ll have to find it yourself.
Of course, what everyone wants to see is video of this thing in action. Love the soundtrack!