Flying Still

"Flying without feathers is not easy; my wings have no feathers." 

                                                                                          ~Titus Maccius Plautus

Continuing with my crazy obsession with flight,  here's SmartBird - a flight model of an artificial bird that’s capable of taking off and rising in the air by means of its flapping wings alone.  The wings not only beat up and down but twist like those of a real bird — and seeing it fly leaves no doubt: it’s a perfect technical imitation of the natural model, just bigger. (Even birds think so.) Its wingspan is almost two meters, while its carbon-fiber structure weighs only 450 grams.

But this is just a robot, what if human could flap their own wings and fly like a free bird, into oblivion? 

Here is a model devised by Douglas C. George:

Its been man's obsession to fly since he first set his eyes on the mighty creatures who awry of the world, spread their wings and soar,

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return. "
                                                                                                              ~Leonardo Da Vinci 


Source:  www.ted.com

http://www.dcgeorge.com/ProjectFalcon.html