August 2nd marked the first human-powered flight of an ornithopter. Wait, a what? It's pronounced awr-nuh-thop-ter, and it's an aircraft propelled by flapping wings, like a bird. First sketched by Leonardo da Vinci in 1485, people have been trying to improve on his design--and build a working model--for centuries. A group at the University of Toronto's Institute of Aerospace Studies made their own design, and in August, they successfully flew the first human-powered ornithopter. The pilot, a PhD candidate named Todd Reichert, sat in a tiny cockpit pedaling furiously to make the wings gracefully flap. Reichert explained the world's obsession with this strange machine:
"It's the original aeronautical dream, people first looking at birds saying, 'I want to do that, I want to flap my wings like a bird,'" said Reichert, laughing as he recounted the four years it took for his project to take flight. [Winnipeg Free Press]
The flight took place on August 2nd and was attended by a representative of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, the world-governing body for air sports and aeronautical world records, who was on hand to verify the world-record flight. The papers claiming the world's-first record were submitted this week, and the team is hoping it will become official in October.
