The Flapping Flight Website http://www.catskill.net/evolution/flight
Bird wings are amazing things. Most people have a rough idea how aircraft wings work, but we don’t often think about how and why flapping enters the equation in nature. Perhaps it’s because, unless something is seriously wrong somewhere, flapping wings are strikingly absent on the average jumbo jet. So ask yourself - how do birds do it?
This site, although not huge, is the answer to all your flapping flight questions. It is divided into two main areas: flapping found in nature, and flapping man-made creations.
The first section takes you through the different types of animals that flap their way around the world. It’s not just birds that flap of course, bats and insects use the same kind of tricks, and here you’ll get some info on all of them. There’s even a fish, the hatchet fish, which some scientists claim flaps it’s way out of the water to catch it’s prey. There are some good-looking animated explanations of flapping wing flight, which help you to understand the differences between gliding fixed wings and the actions involved in flapping.
The second section takes in subject matter slightly outside the normal wildlife content of Wolf spider, but because it’s linked so closely to animal flight, it’s definitely worth a look. Ornithopters are man-made aircraft which use flapping wings to do their flying - and technology has advanced somewhat since the early machines that pathetically tore themselves to bits on take-off. There are some great photos of various designs, including some based directly on seagulls, dragonflies and flying dinosaurs, as well as pictures of manned ornithopter attempts. Flapping amazing! Best of all, though, there are links to sites where you can download the construction plans to make your very own flying machine. Up, up, and away!
Richard Northover