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Flying Reptile The Size of A Small Airplane
An anonymous reader wrote to mention a New Zealand Herald article about a pterosaur that has been discovered to have an almost 18 meter wingspan. From the article: "A Spitfire has a wingspan of 11m and has to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. Pterosaurs did it on a diet of fish and a superb ability to utilise air currents, thermals and ground effects. There is nothing close to pterosaurs alive today. Pterosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, they left no descendants and we don't know quite what their closest relative was."
Pterosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, they left no descendants and we don't know quite what their closest relative was
I'm going to go out on a limb, and guess that the closest relative to a Pterosaur would be another Pterosaur.
Either that, or a Spitfire.
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Well yes, they might have had a greater wingspan, but they certainly didn't fly mach 1, neither did they weight thousands of kilograms. So the statement that they were able to outperform Rolls Royce engines by fish digestion is plain stupid.
Dinosaurs were big.
Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
Todays gliders made of composites have a wingspan of 18 meters. Actually they vary from 15 to 24 meters, but 18 meter is a standard class. Optimal speed is usually around 90 km/h and minimum speed is around 70 km/h. Of course a glider is built to carry a payload of about 100 kg.
Pterosaurs went extinct 65 million years ago, they left no descendants and we don't know quite what their closest relative was
My mother in law.
Idiot, they're extinct.
Yeah, but the evolution of planes is... intelligent design :-)
No they are not fish powered, I hear then run on Petrosaurses. Very very dead ones.