The problem with some sort of flying suit is that energy is not portable enough. Huge pneumatic actuators can be used to power a winged suit, where the wearer can flap the wings, creating lift. A tether is provided so that they are not able to touch the ground once tethered. The tether is also the air line, powering the suit for flight. The tether is attached to a large tower, which regulates the tether like a rock climbing set up would.
-- twitch, Aug 11 2009

Sort of like this, but different http://www.youtube....watch?v=7-KczCp0OQ4
[ldischler, Aug 14 2009]

Been working on the dragonfly version in my head now for years I have. Tethered_20to_20the...ters_20for_20People
[2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 14 2009]

Where's the fun in flying when you're tethered to a tower?
-- DrWorm, Aug 11 2009


so you don't take a couple of flaps and head straight down and break your neck, is what the tether is for. So that way, you can have fun by not dying. I think not dying is great fun in fact.
-- twitch, Aug 14 2009


So you fly around the tower in circles like a batty chairswing ride, I take it, with some directional control as you rid the air of mosquitos. Could be fun.
-- RayfordSteele, Aug 14 2009


I suggested an electric version tethered to the national grid!
-- po, Aug 14 2009


1935. In Walden NY around 1935-1936, Early Bird pilot Harry D. Graulich successfully flew in tethered flight an engine-powered ornithopter with about 4.8 meter wingspan. It was powered by a four-cylinder air-cooled engine. .

No bat wings though and a search for tethered ornithopter gives this [link] as the first hit.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Aug 14 2009



random, halfbakery