Fade leading and trailing edges of wings fractally so that they are perfectly adaptive to the fluid they are slicing through. Wings should be made out of strong enough material and faded in thickness at a rate at which the edges never fully bend back on themselves so that when the edges are deformed the rest of the wing follows adaptively.-- JesusHChrist, Dec 11 2005 Some of JHC's musings on human flight http://patricktimony.tvheaven.comSome astounding (and quite beautiful) wing designs. [wagster, Dec 12 2005] kinda feathered wings?-- po, Dec 11 2005 K.F.C. Kentucky Fractal Chicken-- xenzag, Dec 11 2005 Is this like winglets? Or something else?-- st3f, Dec 11 2005 OK I must admit to being confused about this. I was thinking aircraft wings until "perfectly adaptive to the fluid they are sliding through".-- hidden truths, Dec 11 2005 If you made these wings out of something like minicell foam and formed them into a suit that relyed on leg wings for power, they could enable personal flapping flight. Otherwise they could be used for powered ornithopter flight or at the high end for one of the military's new adaptive winged fighter jets. They could also be used for adaptive turbines, propellors, diving suits, and flippers.-- JesusHChrist, Dec 11 2005 Presumably, they'd have an infinite leading-edge - and therefore an infinite surface area? - Well, surely that'd imply infinite lift! [+]-- Dub, Dec 11 2005 and hopefully not an infinite drag.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Dec 11 2005 [2frys] Ah, good point!-- Dub, Dec 12 2005 I wonder if had anything to do with the formation of this idea.
JesusH, what is it with you and human powered flight?
I remembered once you posted 3 ideas on how to do it in as many hours.-- DesertFox, Dec 12 2005 Thank you DesertFox for the inspiration. Just want to make sure no one gets caught at the Rapture without a pair of wings.-- JesusHChrist, Dec 12 2005 [DF] - The answer is in the (link). From where I have taken my quote of the day: "Sphericon Gear. This gear translates rotational motion into piston motion. It might have an application in a conventional ornithopter." Thanks [JHC].-- wagster, Dec 12 2005 random, halfbakery