In article ,
"Flash60601" wrote:

"Alan Baker" wrote in message
...
In article ,
CaveLamb wrote:

Alan Baker wrote:
In article ,
CaveLamb wrote:

Steve Hix wrote:
In article ,
CaveLamb wrote:

Steve Hix wrote:
In article ,
TonyW wrote:

On 10/6/2010 2:43 AM, wrote:
http://acidcow.com/pics/13751-made-b...ers-23-pics-1-
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Karl
Not the first, it was done 30 years ago, Google Gossamer
Albatross.
GA was prop-driven, not an ornithopter (thrust from wing flapping).

This one doesn't seem to have enough power to take off on its own,
but
enough to
barely maintain level flight.

Mildly creepy looking under weigh; looks like a sailplane with
severe
low-frequency flutter.
This one was not an ornithopter either...
It just LOOKS like one...
How much flapping do you have to do before it's an ornithopter?

Not being able to take off under its own power doesn't help, mind.

Oh, I'd guess - enough for the wings to actually FLAP rather than just
FLEX.

To your mind, what would make it flapping rather than flexing?



No, I'm not interested in a debate on this.

Pick your pony - believe what you want...

So... ...you're just interested in making unsupported pronouncements?

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
http://gallery.me.com/alangbaker/100008/DSCF0162/web.jpg

Alan, I'll be pleased to hear what you have to say on this:
1. At what speed and altitude did the craft release from the auto-tow?.
2.. How far and how long did it fly under its own power until it was no
longer able to maintain that altitude and airspeed?

I don't know the answer to either of them...

....but I'm betting large that CaveLamb doesn't know the answer either.

And simply declaring it's not flapping and the refusing to define his
terms...

Come on.


Would you think that those two questions are pertinent to the discussion?

Of course they're pertinent. I don't know how you want to qualify
successful flight, but it's pretty clearly an ornithopter...

....which is the point I was trying to make.

But if you're interested in its success, you might want to read this:

'The "Snowbird" performed its record-breaking flight on August 2 at the
Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ont., witnessed by the
vice-president (Canada) of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale
(FAI), the world-governing body for air sports and aeronautical world
records. The official record claim was filed this month, and the FAI is
expected to confirm the ornithopter's world record at its meeting in
October.'

http://www.physorg.com/news204386550.html

It goes on:

'For centuries engineers have attempted such a feat, ever since Leonardo
da Vinci sketched the first human-powered ornithopter in 1485.
But under the power and piloting of Todd Reichert, an Engineering PhD
candidate at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies
(UTIAS), the wing-flapping device sustained both altitude and airspeed
for 19.3 seconds, and covered a distance of 145 metres at an average
speed of 25.6 kilometres per hour.'

'sustained both altitude and airspeed' seems to be fairly definitive.


Also, have you any connection with this project at all? (You know,
"Disclaimer", as it were).

Nope. No connection of any kind.

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
http://gallery.me.com/alangbaker/100008/DSCF0162/web.jpg