Overview
The ornithopter was one of the oldest flying object made by man. And this creation had to be of a super intelligent man - Leonardo da Vinci. In the year 1485, Leonardo studied the flight of birds to understand the basic principles to make an object fly.
That was when he came up with the idea of ornithopter. In my opinion, the ornithopter is one of the weirdest and most complex flying machine ever built by man. It took me 1 hour just to figure out how the ornithopter flies.
History
An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings. The first ornithopters capable of flight were constructed in France. Jobert in 1871 used a rubber band to power a small model bird. Later the ornithopter was modified into many versions which could fly using rubber bands, gun powder, internal combustion, etc.
Home built ornithopter
Today, hobbyists build lightweight ornithopters powered by rubber bands. But trustme, it is not easy at all. It took me 3 days to build an ornithopter which could actually fly. On the other hand, if you know the working of ornithopter thoroughly and have all the material required to make it, it is an amazing project to do. It takes time to build but flies very efficiently. It is totally different from model aeroplanes and thats what makes it special.
In future I will write a detailed post about making a model flying ornithopter. So, stay tuned...
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