Ornithopters

Chuck Hamilton ([email removed]) sed:
> I noticed that the Astrogator's Guide to Diaspora contained a couple
> of references to ornithopters.  What are these?  I remember them from
> Frank Herbert's _Dune_, where they seemed to be desert gliders which
> became airborne by either VTOL or perhaps hopping.  So can anyone
> describe an ornithopter, or point to the location of a good descrip-
> tion?

	An Ornithopter is the classic flying machine in which flight
is achieved by simulating avian wings, i.e. "flapping."  I don't have
a pointer to a good source, but I imagine any good book about the
early efforts to achieve flight should do the trick.  Go back and
re-read Dune.  Check out the movie - I seem to recall some sequences
with the ornithopters in the beginning of the movie (particularly the
scene where a sandworm takes a spice crawler).

Steven J. Owens
[email removed]

Chuck Hamilton asks:
: Subject: Ornithopters
:
: I noticed that the Astrogator's Guide to Diaspora contained a couple
: of references to ornithopters.  What are these?  I remember them from
: Frank Herbert's _Dune_, where they seemed to be desert gliders which
: became airborne by either VTOL or perhaps hopping.  So can anyone
: describe an ornithopter, or point to the location of a good descrip-
: tion?
:
: Thanks.
:
: Chuck Hamilton                                           [email removed]


An ornithopter is an airplane that flies by flapping its wings, the way
a bird flies. DaVinci thought they would make sense.  A few designs have
been tried but they invariably exceed structural limitations and they're
not terribly comfortable.

Start your search with a good technology encyclopedia, browse the
aviation section of the library, and page through Janes.

- --
Richard Johnson      [email removed]
The thing about the number 2, like pi and e, giving it such power is that
it is part of a small, conspiratorial, cabal of universal constants that
controls everything.