Re: Questions regarding NAC ground units, was SG IF morale

On  3-Dec-01 at 01:15, Beth.Fulton@csiro.au (Beth.Fulton@csiro.au)
wrote:
> G'day, 
>  
> > I know about BumbleBees and their aerodynamics but Butterfly Flight
> > Phenomenon?
> 
> The lift to thrust ratio and other features of the take-off/landing
and
> short flight dynamics of some insects (e.g. butterflies) break the
rules of
> flight/energy use etc as they're understood by current engineers and
> physicts.... the insects shouldn't be able to do it they way they do,
but
> they obviously do ;)

I saw a recent article on the "insect flight violates physics".  It
turns
out that many of them are making efficient use of energy that would
normally be lost in vortices spinning off the wing tip.  They are
making giant dragonfly wings in a fluid that recreates air at the
larger scale.  It doesn't look like it will have much affect
on human flight, but if you were making a 1/300 scale air unit
that actually flies...

Roger Books