If even the slightest bit of turbulence during a flight makes you reach the barf bag, then you will never want to get on board this Russian fun which uses flapping its wings to take flight. But it shows that Mother Nature’s drawings can be oversized to one day revolutionize air travel.
It’s not the first time we’ve managed to reverse engineer how air creatures, such as insects and birds, take to the skies. In fact, mechanical ornithopters (aircraft that fly using a flapping wing mechanism) are so common that people have been building balsa wood and paper engine versions for years. For 40 USD you can buy one robotic bird remote control this is surprisingly maneuverable for a toy. Which is impressive at this fun called Serenity, which seems to have been based on one of Many sketches of Da Vinci of potential flying machines, is its magnitude.
The ornithopter built in Russia is proof that a wing-of-flight approach is not just an option for small insects or birds whose skeletal structure and bodies are designed to be as light as possible. With a fuselage that appears to be about 10 feet long, three sets of flapping wings, and all the mechanisms, ties, wires, and batteries needed to create the beating motion, Serenity is slightly heavier than even the largest flying creatures. that we have on Earth. It doesn’t seem big enough to accommodate another human passenger or pilot, but it’s just a matter of scale and funding – future versions of Serenity could be even bigger.
The constant up and down movement of the wings makes Serenity look as if it will provide a rugged ride for anyone trying to get on board, but in the same way birds can keep their heads stabilized while flapping their wings madly, there is no no doubt it is a complication that can be overcome with more engineering. But why bother when planes work well?
Modern aircraft depend on forward motion to create lift above the wings and stay up, which is provided by either jet engines or propellers that create thrust – both very noisy solutions. It also means that the planes have a minimum speed that they have to maintain or else they will sit and fall from the sky. Using the movements of an aircraft’s wings to generate lift raises an incredible potential for maneuverability, as can be seen by anyone watching a dragonfly jump around mosquito hunters or a hummingbird drinking heavily from a flower while still in flight. . The serenity is nowhere near being able to float in the air and even its ability to drive is limited, but it demonstrates an interesting potential. Will a Boeing 777 ever flap its huge wings? Probably not, but flapping wings are undoubtedly a safer alternative to tying a jet engine behind people as a solution to personal flight.