Future of Engineering
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Birds, Bats, Insects Outperform Aircraft in Aerobics, Can Teach Aerospace Engineers
Birds, bats and insects hold secrets for aerospace engineers
Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. You get the idea...
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Natural flyers like birds, bats and insects outperform man-made aircraft in aerobatics and efficiency. University of Michigan engineers are studying these animals as a step toward designing flapping-wing planes with wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards.
A Blackbird jet flying nearly 2,000 miles per hour covers 32 body lengths per second. But a common pigeon flying at 50 miles per hour covers 75.
The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. You get the idea...
More from here
Labels: Aerospace-Engineering, Mechanical-Engineering
PermaLink - Birds, Bats, Insects Outperform Aircraft in Aerobics, Can Teach Aerospace Engineers posted by Ecacofonix : 10:36 PM
