I am not aware of any military experiments with wing flapping. A wing
structure strong enough to withstand the rapid motions would be to heavy to
fly. Airplanes can fly with fixed wings because they carry an engine to
provide forward thrust.

The wing warping that the Wright's patented was not "Flapping" (flapping
like a bird) but rather stream-wise twisting (what we know today as an
aileron ) as a means to bank an airplane into a turn.

"patrick timony" wrote in message
om...
Can anyone tell me how far back military experiments with Flapping
Flight go? I am interested in why Soaring flight is so rare in nature
but so popular with us? I've heard that the Wright Brothers patented
Wing Warping (Flapping) and never let anyone develop planes using Wing
Warping flight. Is that true? Does that explain why the designs up
until the time of the Wright Brothers were all Bird-like flapping
designs and after were all fixed wing soaring designs? Did the
military pursue Wing Warping on their own? What are the most current
developments in flexible wing flight and where are they being
developed. Thanks for your help.

Patrick Timony