Think Like A Scientist

Ornithopter (from the Greek words ornithos“bird” and pteron“wing”) have a long history in aviation. Ornithopters are machines or aircrafts that fly by flapping their wings. Leonardo  daVinci was very interested in human-powered flight. He spent a great deal of time observing bird, bat, and insect flight. In 1485 he drew detailed plans for a human-powered ornithopter (a wing-flapping device intended to fly). There’s no evidence that he actually built the ornithopter. However, it’s likely that his original drawings and ideas have been used by many modern-day aviation scientists such as the case in the flight of the Snowbird, the world’s first successful human powered ornithopter. On August 2nd, 2010 the Snowbird, the first human-powered ornithopter (aircraft that flies by flapping its wings) to fly sustained both altitude and airspeed for 19.3 seconds. The Snowbird was constructed by a team of students from the University of Toronto. Todd Reichert, team member and research student at the University of Toronto piloted the Snowbird during the August 2nd, 2010 flight. To read more about the Snowbird check out the Human-Powered Ornithopter Project website. The Human -Powered Ornithopter Project site includes technical details of the Snowbird, history, team members, photos, and videos.

To view a video of the Snowbird August 2nd, 2010 flight check out this youtube video.