This is fantastic! It's flapping action is so much more efficient and beautiful than all the mouth-flapping in these you-tube comments. It really demonstrates what can be accomplished when our efforts are put toward something useful.
We achieved everything thought unachievable before, all thanks to a great range of lightweight, strong materials and excellent knowledge of aerodynamics. Human powered forward flight, human powered hovering and human powered flight by flapping the wings. All in zero wind relative to the ground. And god what can our gliders do, getting picked up by the winds, raising above the clouds, all in controlled flight. Looking back, the progress we've made is marvelous. Beautiful pieces of engineering.
Impressive for what it was, but the Wikipedia article says "Analysis of the flight afterward indicated that 15-20 power strokes (flaps) is the limit of endurance for the pilot." Therefore, I find it hard to categorize this as a design capable of "sustained flight."
+treborp1957 Where do you draw the line? Planes run out of fuel eventually, so maybe they aren't capable of sustained flight. The point is, this machine maintained both airspeed and altitude, meaning it was not losing energy. Meaning it was powered.
You could say the same of a bicycle. The rider can't "sustain" travel indefinitely on that either can he. But, like the aircraft, he can keep a constant speed (and constant altitude in the case of the plane) for a given amount of time.
@Thergrim Haha what makes it special is that it gets propulsion from the "wiggly wing". It would not have otherwise been able to sustain flight, which is what makes it something other than a glider.
A wingsuit lets you glide like a sugar glider, but not fly. An ornithopter (not one like this one though, but one with wings attached to the arms and a tail for gliding) lets you glide like a bird, but not fly. However, someone called Peter Salzmann made a jet pack for a wingsuit that did enable powered flight. Human powered flight from the body strength alone is unfeasible, so the way to make an ornithopter that can achieve powered flight, it seems, is to incorporate this jetpack technology into an ornithopter. It could be designed to push air out from the bottom of the wings through holes concealed by feathers, and it'd only be needed to gain altitude. This would provide an authentic flying experience. At altitude, wing flaps could be used to slow the rate of descent, steer and increase speed. Some electricity could also be used to assist the arms in flapping the wings, reducing the amount of energy it takes to flap and increasing the length of flights. The technology is all there. Someone just needs to put it together.
@Thergrim A flapping wing is different than being powered by a propeller. And, when he stopped flapping, it sank. Yes, they 'cheated' with a tow, to start.
First human to fly like a bird and it was a team of college students that did it! Rest easy fellow baby boomers, the next generation will make amazing strides in technology and human accomplishment! Great work young people!
As I undestood, it is a glider with bird-like wing moving imitation, isn't it? 330 meters of horizontal flight divided by 5 meters of maximum height means aerodynamical quality near 60, which is usual for modern carbon gliders. There is no human powered take off or human-powered height increasing in the movie.
except that you can clearly see the pilot gave up way before he touched the ground. Possibly because he was tired, probably because he reached the end of the field and thought it was enough to prove it works. I understand your skepticism
The problem with this is it clearly isn't undergoing the descent you'd expect of a glider, and at times, during the same point in it's cycle, it's higher than it was previously, which wouldn't be the case if it was merely gliding. And a glide ratio of 60 is very good. I'd be shocked if this had a glide ratio that high.
Congratulations! The Wright brothers first successful flight was--what?--120 feet in 12 seconds. Two years later they flew 24 miles in 40 minutes. You're ahead of the curve so far!
Ornithopter: wing flapping, foot-propelled flying machine made by George R. White. Trial flights were conducted in St. Augustine. The ornithopter weighed 118 pounds, was 8 feet in length, and had a wing span of 29.5 feet. The frame was made of chrome molydernum covered with a non-inflammable transparent celluloid fabric. It crashed on test flight, but was later improved.
In Canukistan, plane fly you! A great big kudos to all of the folks involved in the designing and building ofthis marvelous aircraft. You should be proud.
I think it is difficult to conclusively state that the aircraft achieved flight purely as an ornithopter as it could have been gliding for the 19.3 seconds. I would love to read a paper they produced whilst designing this vessel.
The car was simply to get it into the air. Once off the ground, if you noticed, the wings started flapping. The man inside was keeping the craft in the air himself, the car just got it started.
@joshuame505 Only partly kidding. Yes it is aerodynamics 101 - at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach FL. It's only open to 3rd year students. Other terms you might find intriguing are "Reynolds number", boundary layer and laminar flow.
@jetwaco The team actually went and talked with the constructors of the Dedalus and Albatros human powered planes, no Wiki needed. We know their achievements pretty darn well. What was achieved was sustained flight (data on website) for the first time for an ornithopter, meaning all thrust was generated by the wing flapping. The plane cannot take off by itself, just as the original Wright Flier couldnt either. Thats the next step.
All you need to do now is figure out how to take off unaided. Due to the fact that it's pedal powered, I'd assume it'd be easy enough to get bake parts in there. Some kind of gear system to move power from wheels to wigs and you're away! I would certainly want one if it meant that I could take off from my local park and fly around like riding a bicycle!
At least it doesn't seem to need much of a pull from the car. Don't know if the same pull could get someone on a glider aloft for equal amount of time. The next step has got to be one that can take off on solely on human power.
A bit of Wright Brothers history may help some of you understand the progression of inventions. The 1903 Wright Flyer in Kitty Hawk had no catapult. But it did require a stiff headwind, so it got free airspeed just sitting still. The Wrights then moved their operations to Huffman Prarie, Ohio. There, they used a catapult instead of the headwind, and built aircraft that could circle above the field for hours at a time. That improved capability was a further extension of the invention.
Instead of flapping the wings, I rather pedal the large light weight prop to create thrust, because the flapping wings up/down motion has cancel out most (not all) of the lift, unlike birds, the bird's up motion wings almost vertical, btw, I like to use glider to ride the wind up several thousands feet.
@themanwich212 Professional engineers don't have to worry about getting a good grade on their project. They don't challenge themselves because they'll be paid to meet the criteria, not to go above and beyond.
wow, I only just read an article about you guys! Did you manage to make a longer flight now (the article mentioned 20seconds)? Very well done, this was certainly a LOT of hard work, and when I say hard, I mean really hard work. The fact that you made this thing weight less than 50kg is just mind numbing! Could you maybe point out some usefull resources, where to read more about you? e.g. how much did the project cost, in terms of material, etc...
When wings "flap", they don't rise straight up in two dimensions. Rather, the wing follows a path such that it pushes through the air forward following an upward path (remember that "flappable" wings are flexible) such that they end up in an upward position without actually causing any drag to occur.
For all those saying this isn't an ornithopter, the definition of ornithopter according to the Oxford Dictionary is: "a machine designed to achieve flight by means of flapping wings" and the definition of flight is "moving or able to move through the air with wings". Moving through the air? Check. Flapping wings? Check. Machine? Check. Therefore it is, as far as the Oxford Dictionary is concerned, an ornithopter. Also, it is indeed a human flapping said wings, so it is human-powered.
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.
In 1929, a man-powered ornithopter designed by Alexander Lippisch (designer of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet) flew a distance of 250 to 300 metres after tow launch. Since a tow launch was used, some have questioned whether the aircraft was capable of flying on its own
I'm surprised a human powered wing flapper was possible. I was thinking "there's no way it's going to be as efficient as a propeller and stationary wings and a propeller is only just feasible under human power". The "tail first" Gossamer Albatross channel crosser was driven by a large propeller turning slowly (about 1.5 turns per pedal turn) and thought this would be the least moving parts and drag compared to a flapping wing which would have all sorts of losses in the wing structure being imperfectly elastic.
did it actually fly under humon power tho? they really needed to do a flapping and non flapping test to see if there was difference, this sounds bad but to me it just seems like a waste of time, you would need to be superman to sustain a decent flight.
@RagnarDenFule I'm curious about this, too. It may be physically disadvantageous to do so, though -- a human might tire too quickly in the efforts to get above that barrier.
To those unimpressed by this project: please stop criticizing amazing feats of engineering and proving your ignorance. Many congratulations to those who worked on the project, thank you for continuing to redefine what is impossible.
By definition it is ALSO a glider as that is defined as: "a light aircraft that is designed to fly without using an engine". So it's both. Now quit trying to take away from their achievement. If you disagree then go make your own human-powered ornithopter so we can argue semantics about it.
wow this is amazing. Whats the next step? how do u control altitude? any chances of unassisted take-off? and please at least wear a helmet next time!!!
when the wings are flapping very gracefully like a giant bird, it really looks very amazing.. wish i could see it personally
1:42 I was like, "It's just a big kite." ...and then the wings started to flap... So freaky!
This is fantastic!
It's flapping action is so much more efficient and beautiful than all the mouth-flapping in these you-tube comments. It really demonstrates what can be accomplished when our efforts are put toward something useful.
Some say it's still flying to this day
Hats off the pilot as much as the designers. What a feat of endurance.
"Your doing great dan, just keep on going." "But how the hell do I land this death trap?"
We achieved everything thought unachievable before, all thanks to a great range of lightweight, strong materials and excellent knowledge of aerodynamics.
Human powered forward flight, human powered hovering and human powered flight by flapping the wings. All in zero wind relative to the ground. And god what can our gliders do, getting picked up by the winds, raising above the clouds, all in controlled flight.
Looking back, the progress we've made is marvelous. Beautiful pieces of engineering.
What a beautiful outcome of a pure research project in aviation. Congrats!
Impressive for what it was, but the Wikipedia article says "Analysis of the flight afterward indicated that 15-20 power strokes (flaps) is the limit of endurance for the pilot." Therefore, I find it hard to categorize this as a design capable of "sustained flight."
that wasn't the point. more like a proof of concept here than for actual use.
+treborp1957 Where do you draw the line? Planes run out of fuel eventually, so maybe they aren't capable of sustained flight.
The point is, this machine maintained both airspeed and altitude, meaning it was not losing energy. Meaning it was powered.
You could say the same of a bicycle. The rider can't "sustain" travel indefinitely on that either can he. But, like the aircraft, he can keep a constant speed (and constant altitude in the case of the plane) for a given amount of time.
treborp1957 que
You always could buff the pilot up with some drugs to increase endurance.
Remarkable! Truly impressive and a beautiful sight to see.
@Thergrim Haha what makes it special is that it gets propulsion from the "wiggly wing".
It would not have otherwise been able to sustain flight, which is what makes it something other than a glider.
This is truly amazing. Humanity has always wanted to fly as close as a bird. Maybe one day that will be possible.
A wingsuit lets you glide like a sugar glider, but not fly. An ornithopter (not one like this one though, but one with wings attached to the arms and a tail for gliding) lets you glide like a bird, but not fly. However, someone called Peter Salzmann made a jet pack for a wingsuit that did enable powered flight. Human powered flight from the body strength alone is unfeasible, so the way to make an ornithopter that can achieve powered flight, it seems, is to incorporate this jetpack technology into an ornithopter. It could be designed to push air out from the bottom of the wings through holes concealed by feathers, and it'd only be needed to gain altitude. This would provide an authentic flying experience. At altitude, wing flaps could be used to slow the rate of descent, steer and increase speed. Some electricity could also be used to assist the arms in flapping the wings, reducing the amount of energy it takes to flap and increasing the length of flights. The technology is all there. Someone just needs to put it together.
Retrofit this thing to hold four people and strap an analogue WW2 era jet engine onto it and you can be riding the storms of Arrakis in no time!
Congratulations you just invented the jet airplane, again... ;)
@Thergrim A flapping wing is different than being powered by a propeller.
And, when he stopped flapping, it sank.
Yes, they 'cheated' with a tow, to start.
wow.. a very cool concept.. hope a would be able to see it around in no time..
First human to fly like a bird and it was a team of college students that did it! Rest easy fellow baby boomers, the next generation will make amazing strides in technology and human accomplishment! Great work young people!
maybe in the future,as materials become better,a 2 seater,one to provide propulsion,one to provide lift,great job
Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING"!!! :O
They should try this late in the afternoon with warm sunny weather, not at freezing dawn.
The sky is the limit. Congratulations!
What is the music in this video! I find it profound and deep ! I love it! I hope you can give me some data about it!
As I undestood, it is a glider with bird-like wing moving imitation, isn't it? 330 meters of horizontal flight divided by 5 meters of maximum height means aerodynamical quality near 60, which is usual for modern carbon gliders. There is no human powered take off or human-powered height increasing in the movie.
Yes. But sponsors and everything make anything possible. Including wasting money on a student project that does not work.
except that you can clearly see the pilot gave up way before he touched the ground. Possibly because he was tired, probably because he reached the end of the field and thought it was enough to prove it works. I understand your skepticism
The problem with this is it clearly isn't undergoing the descent you'd expect of a glider, and at times, during the same point in it's cycle, it's higher than it was previously, which wouldn't be the case if it was merely gliding.
And a glide ratio of 60 is very good. I'd be shocked if this had a glide ratio that high.
yeah i was thinking the same thing, would it not of done what it did even if the wings weren't flapping?
Congratulations! The Wright brothers first successful flight was--what?--120 feet in 12 seconds. Two years later they flew 24 miles in 40 minutes. You're ahead of the curve so far!
Ornithopter: wing flapping, foot-propelled flying machine made by George R. White. Trial flights were conducted in St. Augustine. The ornithopter weighed 118 pounds, was 8 feet in length, and had a wing span of 29.5 feet. The frame was made of chrome molydernum covered with a non-inflammable transparent celluloid fabric. It crashed on test flight, but was later improved.
impressive canadian inventions make me smile
thats incredible to me, how do the wings flap again?
@mnchaussen You do have a point ... it's hard to tell from this video whether the act of flapping its wings was actually generating any net lift.
In Canukistan, plane fly you!
A great big kudos to all of the folks involved in the designing and building ofthis marvelous aircraft. You should be proud.
I would cry foul that there is no lift but there is no decent or loss in altitude either...so i say...
HUGE WIN for the Canadians!!!!!
Congratulations, thats just awesome! You keep all of us (Aeron. Eng) encouraged!!!
I think it is difficult to conclusively state that the aircraft achieved flight purely as an ornithopter as it could have been gliding for the 19.3 seconds. I would love to read a paper they produced whilst designing this vessel.
That's why they specifically say that both altitude and airspeed was maintained. You can't glide without losing either altitude or speed in still air.
The car was simply to get it into the air. Once off the ground, if you noticed, the wings started flapping. The man inside was keeping the craft in the air himself, the car just got it started.
Back to Mother Nature laws for flying.
Thanks to make us dreaming for flying like bords again.
Keep forward!
It is a difficult thing for a species not designed for flight to be able to fly like a bird. Well done people!
Awesome :D !!! What's the total cost?
That's absolutely amazing!
The way to go lads.
Thank you. An intelligent answer.
@joshuame505 Only partly kidding. Yes it is aerodynamics 101 - at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach FL. It's only open to 3rd year students. Other terms you might find intriguing are "Reynolds number", boundary layer and laminar flow.
@jetwaco The team actually went and talked with the constructors of the Dedalus and Albatros human powered planes, no Wiki needed. We know their achievements pretty darn well.
What was achieved was sustained flight (data on website) for the first time for an ornithopter, meaning all thrust was generated by the wing flapping. The plane cannot take off by itself, just as the original Wright Flier couldnt either. Thats the next step.
Why did I just find this now!
greatest thing i've ever seen.
All you need to do now is figure out how to take off unaided. Due to the fact that it's pedal powered, I'd assume it'd be easy enough to get bake parts in there. Some kind of gear system to move power from wheels to wigs and you're away!
I would certainly want one if it meant that I could take off from my local park and fly around like riding a bicycle!
At least it doesn't seem to need much of a pull from the car. Don't know if the same pull could get someone on a glider aloft for equal amount of time. The next step has got to be one that can take off on solely on human power.
I published this video on the Dutch website WELSTIJL (2 october) Kind regards Sem Mallée
Credit for ingenuity, but it doesn't take off under its own power and it doesn't gain altitude. I'd classify it as a glider.
You'd be wrong, but that never stopped you before
A bit of Wright Brothers history may help some of you understand the progression of inventions. The 1903 Wright Flyer in Kitty Hawk had no catapult. But it did require a stiff headwind, so it got free airspeed just sitting still. The Wrights then moved their operations to Huffman Prarie, Ohio. There, they used a catapult instead of the headwind, and built aircraft that could circle above the field for hours at a time. That improved capability was a further extension of the invention.
Bravo les Canadiens!
C'est magnifique! Continuez comme ça les gars!
I came here becuz I went to the aviation museum in Ottawa . It’s amazing!!!😮😮😮😮
this is awesome, thanks! we have such people to fly over dreams.
what the...., flapping wing on glider!?!?!?
wow, you're done well guys...!!!
i can't say nothing
how beautiful...
Goofy looking and beautiful at the same time....Made me smile.
flawless executed!
Instead of flapping the wings, I rather pedal the large light weight prop to create thrust, because the flapping wings up/down motion has cancel out most (not all) of the lift, unlike birds, the bird's up motion wings almost vertical, btw, I like to use glider to ride the wind up several thousands feet.
Danhtran1122 The wings up to close is just one of the three kinds of ornithopter's. And the most effecient way is soft, flexible wings.
that was done long ago multiple times
This is far from resemble bird's motion. Solar planes has been fly around the earth with propellers.
leonardo da Vinc deve estar orgulhoso por isso
@themanwich212
Professional engineers don't have to worry about getting a good grade on their project.
They don't challenge themselves because they'll be paid to meet the criteria, not to go above and beyond.
wow, I only just read an article about you guys! Did you manage to make a longer flight now (the article mentioned 20seconds)?
Very well done, this was certainly a LOT of hard work, and when I say hard, I mean really hard work. The fact that you made this thing weight less than 50kg is just mind numbing!
Could you maybe point out some usefull resources, where to read more about you? e.g. how much did the project cost, in terms of material, etc...
Imagine just drawing a cool flying contraption and centuries later it becomes true... And it was based off your design
thatssss awessssommmeeeeee!!!!
but whyy did you have to add the nike reference?! =(
"Surprisingly it looks very...organic" - Todd Reichert.
My thoughts exactly.
Does the flapping of the wings actually generate lift? I dont think so, maybe a little.
I don't know what it was but something made me laugh when I see one of human's creations started flapping like a bird.
Thanks for your reply i appreciate it a lot buddy.
When wings "flap", they don't rise straight up in two dimensions. Rather, the wing follows a path such that it pushes through the air forward following an upward path (remember that "flappable" wings are flexible) such that they end up in an upward position without actually causing any drag to occur.
so pretty much this dude acheived flight without a plane. well done
Congratulations!! Da Vinci is certainly proud of you!!
All things are possible for the man who doesn't have to do it himself!
For all those saying this isn't an ornithopter, the definition of ornithopter according to the Oxford Dictionary is: "a machine designed to achieve flight by means of flapping wings" and the definition of flight is "moving or able to move through the air with wings".
Moving through the air? Check. Flapping wings? Check. Machine? Check.
Therefore it is, as far as the Oxford Dictionary is concerned, an ornithopter.
Also, it is indeed a human flapping said wings, so it is human-powered.
I find it ironic that even with all these professional engineers, its always the college students who make big discoveries
great stuff folks!
freak the all mighty is the name of the book had to read it last year in school
Wow, that is truly amazing!!
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.
In 1929, a man-powered ornithopter designed by Alexander Lippisch (designer of the Messerschmitt Me 163 Komet) flew a distance of 250 to 300 metres after tow launch. Since a tow launch was used, some have questioned whether the aircraft was capable of flying on its own
The problem with that info is that they don't provide technical evidence of the ornithopter. The experiment can't be replicated.
I'm surprised a human powered wing flapper was possible. I was thinking "there's no way it's going to be as efficient as a propeller and stationary wings and a propeller is only just feasible under human power". The "tail first" Gossamer Albatross channel crosser was driven by a large propeller turning slowly (about 1.5 turns per pedal turn) and thought this would be the least moving parts and drag compared to a flapping wing which would have all sorts of losses in the wing structure being imperfectly elastic.
did it actually fly under humon power tho? they really needed to do a flapping and non flapping test to see if there was difference, this sounds bad but to me it just seems like a waste of time, you would need to be superman to sustain a decent flight.
This is Artechnology! it's amazing!
Congrats!
@RagnarDenFule
I'm curious about this, too. It may be physically disadvantageous to do so, though -- a human might tire too quickly in the efforts to get above that barrier.
This is the most beautiful thing i have ever seen!!!! I want one!!!
At 2:16 Impossible is nothing apart from impossible itself.
All the birds are in the trees pointing and laughing!!
This is great vision and a great performance!
Really Neat - what is the music/artist they are playing?
To those unimpressed by this project: please stop criticizing amazing feats of engineering and proving your ignorance. Many congratulations to those who worked on the project, thank you for continuing to redefine what is impossible.
Dare to dream they always say. And this is what happens. Wonderfull project, keep it up!
@gigantibyte They'd need a decent runway though, that field creates lots of friction!
I agree Very impressive looking craft. Would like to see if it can sustain it's own flight after the initial launch.
Fantastic!!! And Canadian!!!
By definition it is ALSO a glider as that is defined as: "a light aircraft that is designed to fly without using an engine".
So it's both. Now quit trying to take away from their achievement. If you disagree then go make your own human-powered ornithopter so we can argue semantics about it.
This has all the halmarks of the Wright brothers first flight, can you imagine what these guys are gonna achive in the next 10 years or so?
Stunning. Congratulations!!
@VarDolzeberg aha, and the Wright Brothers flyer didn't use a catapult to help the start?
Avian based crafts involves complex fluid mechanics and aeroelasticity. So this is indeed a great step forward.
This is very wonderful effort. I love it. Better than even Jumpsuit flying. Now to find a way to bring those wings smaller and fly longer. Good Work!
does anybody know the title of this song? it's fantastic!
I like this, but is there any utility?
This is so magnificent! It's really show the power of TERBANG MENGANGKASA! We should make it too. Thanks for the inspiration making an Ornithopter!
wow this is amazing. Whats the next step? how do u control altitude? any chances of unassisted take-off? and please at least wear a helmet next time!!!
What a beautiful machine.
The fact that it was 10 years ago...
With a nice battery to store energy that you put into it from your hard work...then u can take brakes while flying
Hm... I have an idea. If we could integrate bicycle/tricycle wheels under it, could it lift off without being dragged like in video?
Wright
No
yes, but you would need that to be REALLY LIGHT.
How about bicycle wheels that would drop off once airborne like the Me-163 Komet rocket plane
Some gliders use a hole in the ground for the takeoff 'run'.