Collaborate Disseminate
Ornithopters look silly. They look like something that shouldn’t work. An airplane with no propeller and wings that go flappy-flappy? No way that thing is going to fly. There are, …read more Continue reading Flight of the Pterothopter: A Jurassic-Inspired Ornithopter
One of humankind’s dreams has always been to fly like a bird. For a hacker, an achievable step along the path to that dream is to make an ornithopter — a machine which flies by flapping its wings. An RC controlled one would be wonderful, controlled flight is what everyone wants. Building a flying machine from scratch is a big enough challenge, and a better jumping-off point is to make a rubber band driven one first.
I experimented with designs which are available on the internet, to learn as much as possible, but I started from scratch in terms of …read more
Continue reading Scratch-Built Ornithopter: Here’s How I Flapped My Way to Flight
Balsa wood has long been revered for its strength and lightweight composition, two properties that make it ideal for building model structures and airplanes. Researchers from the US and China have managed to make balsa even stronger and more useful. They’ve found a way to change its structure, turning it into a carbon sponge that’s strong enough to withstand repeated mechanical strain, but light enough to sit atop a dandelion gone to seed.
Using common chemicals like lye and hydrogen peroxide, the scientists burned the hemicellulose and lignin fibers that make up balsa’s rectangular cell walls. Then they incinerated the …read more