Real-life Ornithopter to Take Flight?

A reader writes "According to this article at space.com, researchers at the University of Toronto have designed and built a working ornithopter. Their design will (hopefully) lift off solely powered by the motion of its articulated wings. First envisaged by Leonardo da Vinci, many will recall ornithopers' prominent role in Frank Herbert's Dune books. The U. Toronto Ornithopter project page is is found at ornithopter.net." "Usul ^? , Base of the Pillar"

Comments

Re:hmm, strange opening paragraph

[zeus_tfc]

Actually, more and more scientists believe that Bernoulli's Principle, which states that differences in velocity over a surface causes pressure differentials, is NOT the force that makes airplanes fly. This not disputing Bernoulli , only saying that his principle is mis-applied. More and more people are coming to believe that what makes airplanes fly is air hitting the underside of the wing. When you talk about wings and flying, often you talk about "Angle of Attack". This is the angle at which the wing is in relation to the horizontal. While the wing is at an angle, the oncoming air strikes the bottom of the wing. This causes a force vector normal to the surface of the wing. The vector can be broken down into two normal vectors, one rearward on the plane (against the thrust) and one upwards (against gravity). With enough velocity, the upwards force can overcome the weight of the plane.

The problem with Bernoulli's principle as it applies to flight, is that there is really no logical reason why the air moving over the top of the wing should move faster than the air traveling under the wing. Just because it travels a greater distance does not mean it would speed up, only that it would reach the rear edge of the wing slower than the air traveling under.

Just something to think about.
Zeus_tfc