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First Human-Powered Ornithopter

Posted by samzenpus on from the don't-stop-pedaling dept.

spasm writes "A University of Toronto engineering graduate student has made and successfully flown a human-powered flapping-wing aircraft. From the article: 'Todd Reichert, a PhD candidate at the university's Institute of Aerospace Studies, piloted the wing-flapping aircraft, sustaining both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds and covering a distance of 145 metres at an average speed of 25.6 kilometres per hour.'"

14 of 250 comments (clear)

  1. The Spice... by thescreg · · Score: 5, Funny

    Must flow.

  2. Just in time... by iluvcapra · · Score: 4, Funny

    Just in time for Yueh to leave us a pair of stillsuits in the back. The article doesn't mention if it's big enough to lift a spice harvester however.

    Oh a million deaths are not enough for Yueh!

    --
    Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
  3. The things grad students will do... by kurokame · · Score: 5, Funny

    To put off writing their thesis.

  4. On Ornithopters by schmidt349 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Human-powered ornithopters? Sounds like Dune meets the Flintstones!
    Atreides, Paul Atreides
    He's the greatest man in history
    On the planet Arrakis
    He'll kill Harkonnen and make the Fremen free

    1. Re:On Ornithopters by boxwood · · Score: 4, Funny

      I see you've bought into all the government propaganda about Paul Atreides.

      FACT: Paul Atreides isn't a true Fremen. Why haven't we seen his birth certificate? I'll tell you why, he wasn't even born on Arrakis.

      FACT: Paul Atreides is a secret Harkonnen. He cares more about loss of spice harvesting equipment than the lives of people. That doesn't sound like an Atreides to me.

      FACT: Paul Atreides has a huge ego. He thinks he's some kind of messiah.

      FACT: Paul Atreides's mother dabbles in witchcraft. She claims that she's no longer a witch, but do we really believe that?

      FACT: Paul Atreides regularly cheats on his wife. The only reason he's still married is because it would hurt him politically to end the marriage.

      Yeah, he makes big promises about making Arrakis more green, but what how can we trust him?

  5. Potential Customer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Potential Customer: Ryanair.

  6. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by dnahelicase · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is going to be vital technology for the new NSA/FBI/CIA robo-swallow assassins. Previously we were limited to a very specific payload based on the geographic region in which the swallow originated.

  7. No crap on a car windshield? by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 4, Funny

    In order to win the Ornithopter X-Prize, you need to flap and stay in the air long enough to drop your pants, and take a crap on a car windshield.

    Now that would really prove that man can build a machine that enables man to emulate bird behavior.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  8. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by BitHive · · Score: 4, Funny

    What I want to know is why it's always college kids who are doing the cool stuff in /. stories. It really sends the wrong message that centers of elitist liberal brainwashing are somehow related to innovation when we all know that it's the hardworking, individualistic, ambitious types upon whom all progress depends.

  9. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by catmistake · · Score: 3, Funny

    Speaking as this guy's former roommate, one of the draws for him was that the aerodynamics and mechanics of flapping wing flight was not fully understood.

    The science here is understanding aerodynamics to the point that a human-scaled device can be built.

    I would like to see his paintings.

    --
    The Admin and the Engineer
  10. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by Achoi77 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Also because it's a 0/2 flying artifact for 0 colorless mana.

  11. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    You mean this breakthrough enables the robo-swallows to carry loads the size of a coconut over large distances?

  12. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by camperdave · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone once said that helicopters fly because they are so ugly the ground repels them.

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  13. Re:Why Still Pursuing This? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    A popular military joke is that the CH-47 Chinook doesn't fly, it just beats the air into submission.