One answer to human powered flapping flight would be using spiral wingtips on adaptive wings. Gradually tapering spiral wingtips at the end of a four-winged full-body wing suit would tap into the stored energy in wing tip vortices to enable "treading air" with a doggy-paddle-like stroke.-- JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005 (?) Leg Wings Leg_20wings [JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005] (?) Pheasant-tail-feather-style-wings Pheasant-tail-feather-style_20wings [JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005] Spring Wings Spiral_20Spring_20Wings [JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005] And the physics behind this is?-- Basepair, Feb 19 2005 Let's see. Hmmm. 3 human powered flight ideas in one week. I don't think this one would work, either.-- DesertFox, Feb 19 2005 Base - who cares as long as it works right?
Desert - I didn't think them up in one week, and any of these ideas alone might not make you think human powered flapping flight is possible but take them all togther -- Spring Wings, Leg Wings, Pheasant Tail Feather Wings, Undulating Wright Glider and Spiral Wing Tips, surely you cannot deny the bald rapturous power of their absolute truth?-- JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005 Plus, isn't Leg Wings enough? I mean how can we have gotten to the 21st century and no one has ever tried leg wings?
How can we have gotten to the 21st century and Physics teachers are still telling their classes that thing about humans needing 6 ft square chests to be able to flap wings?-- JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005 [tap into the stored energy in wing tip vortices ]
I'd pay to watch you jump off something wearing this....it doesn't have to be dangerously high, just a rooftop or something. Or a pier, so you don't get hurt splashing in.-- normzone, Feb 19 2005 "Isn't leg wings enough?"
I thought you gave up on leg wings. I asked you "Imagine you are lying on a kickboard-like wheeled cart wearing your flippers. Could you propel yourself by kicking? Imagine someone gave you a push. Could you keep yourself moving by kicking?" and you never answered.-- robinism, Feb 19 2005 >>Imagine you are lying on a kickboard-like wheeled cart wearing your flippers. Could you propel yourself by kicking?
Yes, even if they were just flippers, especially if the wheeled cart was on a frictionless surface.
But rather than think of them as flippers for just the feet I am thinking of them as sort of body fins so that the energy of the whole body can be translated through them into the air. The bigest part of the fins will happen to be on the lower half of your body since thats where most of the power is. But I think even if they were just flippers, if they were big enough you could propel yourself on a cart. The hard part about this thought experiment is that the cart keeps getting in the way of the body movements you would have to make to efficiently use the flippers -- it would be a whole body stroke, not a kick.-- JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005 I can buy the fact that if you are on a level frictionless surface you may be able to create some movement by displacing air using your legs, but tilt that floor even slightly and you are going to roll downhill my friend.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Feb 19 2005 >>How can we have gotten to the 21st century and Physics teachers are still telling their classes that thing about humans needing 6 ft square chests to be able to flap wings?<<
Well, I imagine it is because they understand a little physics.-- Basepair, Feb 19 2005 >> tilt that floor even slightly and you are going to roll downhill my friend
Because the air is rushing by your flippers right? So now imagine how you are going to stop the air from rushing by your flippers. You have the energy in your legs to push off a wall. The air will act like a wall if you treat it the right way. How can you stop the air from rushing by your flippers? Make them adaptive -- gradually tapering in rigidity so that they become extreemly thin and extreemly expandable at the edge -- so that they adapt between you and the air. Then none of the air will get by you and your cart will go up the inclined plane.-- JesusHChrist, Feb 19 2005 random, halfbakery