World's First Human-Powered Ornithopter

The Snowbird Human-Powered Ornithopter was designed and constructed by a team of students from the University of Toronto. On August 2nd 2010 it sustained both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds, becoming the world's first successful human-powered ornithopter. Music by Nicholas Martel and Daniel Gauthier. Visit hpo.ornithopter.net.

• Category

  Science & Technology

[Heavygusto]

freeze it first.

[kmfdm665attak]

2:14  yeah? you try stapling water to a tree

[berin99]

Please provide proof that a glider, towed by a plane to the same height and speed, will glide further before landing.

[SN1350]

I agree 100%, this flapping did not create any lift nor did it help it fly, yes it looked amazing in the air, and for those who dont understand the physic, they were blown away.

[Sal Taglib]

That's no sustained flight thats just a butchered glider.

[Slidaulth]

Absolutely, The flapping does Not generate any thrust, hence this Glider will actually loose forward momentum and come to ground sooner than it would without the flapping.

You are using the general definition of 'flight' when this video is implying Powered Flight. Instead this is a loss of efficiency of forward momentum making this a glider that doesn't even perform as well as it would if the wings were stationary.

[juraj89]

freeze it first

[berin99]

"Flight is the process by which an object moves, through an atmosphere ..., by generating aerodynamic lift, propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement, without direct support from any surface." So you are saying that it does not generate lift or thrust?

[Eric Fasley]

Glue paper to air.

[Eric Fasley]

You are all wrong. They only tried to get the ornithopter into the air. If it had its own motor, it would be too heavy for the wings to even be able to flap fast enough to do the same effect. who was flapping the wings anyway, huh? A person was. Who was driving the vehicle that towed the ornithopter, huh? A person was. And don't say "The truck is a machine." The truck didn't MAKE the ornithopter fly, it just helped it.

[Slidaulth]

What you see in this video is not "sustained flight". What you see is a towed glider that looses momentum and thus lift after the tow line is released. There is nothing 'sustained' about it and in fact, the 'flapping' of the wings would most certainly have reduced the time it could have continued to glide after the tow line was released.

[Slidaulth]

Incorrect as this does not "Fly" by any definition of the term. It is, however a glider, not human powered at all as it is towed by a car, that happens to have a human powered "flapping motion" of the wings. Sadly, this motion most likely caused it to slow down and thus cease gliding sooner than if they had remained fixed wing.