I'm interested in contacting groups or individuals who are working on
human powered vertical take-off vehicles or ornithopters. I have a
number of design ideas I would like to share and get feedback on and I
am also interested in materials. Some of my ideas are as follows:

1. Wings made of light, strong, sandwich-layered foam like Voltek
mini-cell.
2. Wing density gradually decreases toward the middle of the material,
or if 3D printed, the wing density can be varied precisely to
translate motion from each part of limb to surface of variously shaped
wings.
3. Leg wings, tail or whole body fin (like a ray) add lift.
4. Thickness of wing tapers gradually away from body so edges are
sharp and flexible.
5. Full body Crawl or Doggypaddle style stroke evenly distributes
effort to every muscle group and force over the greatest possible
area.
6. Wing silhouette is rounded 3x5 rectangle used from corner to
corner.
7. Leading edge of Wing curled down and trailing edge curled up so
cross-section is s-curve and figure-8 wing-strokes apply constant
force downward. (no upstroke)
8. Sharp corners in wing design possibly tapering to spirals.
9. Standing take-off, like a pidgeon.

I am in the Washington DC area, so I would be especially interested to
hear from locals, but others too.

Patrick Timony