A robot that flies like a bird...

[Dennis Nunes]

This may not be Control-line, but I thought it was pretty cool!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg_JcKSHUtQ&feature=youtu.be&fbclid=IwAR1FSUjGfwINscDbOwUmz62S06hlI8hNIo5bvncpjgDmQ7g4QTvWq1RLGfk

Enjoy,
Dennis

[Jim Hoffman]

Very Cool Dennis, thanks for sharing.

He did not even mention the aerodynamic controls which must be tricky as well.  A great achievemnt

[Dan McEntee]

  That has been presented before a couple of times, but still cool. It is called an ornithopter! A friend of mine who was a memeber ofo the local free flight club years ago held the AMA record for indoor ornothopters for a while in the 50's or 60's. Another member of the same club took it up and took it to another level and had multiwing canard models that were a real bear to trim. Almost unpredictable. But the skill in design and construction to get them light enough for category one and two sites was unreal. He used sections of hypodermic needles and such for bearings for the crank mechanisms. His cat. one record was 8 or 9 minutes I think and at one time held the record for all classes before he finally burned out on it. I have plans for some simple ones but have yet to try one.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Dan McEntee]

Very Cool Dennis, thanks for sharing.

He did not even mention the aerodynamic controls which must be tricky as well.  A great achievemnt

    What the video real close Jim. The tail feathers are on a gimbal like mechanism, and can move any direction. Notice also the under slung rudder at the tail. You can see up qand down elevator movements and left and right rudder movements, but they seem to be pretty subtle. At the end on the first flight you can see the elevator action pretty well when he cranks full up to stall it as it quit flapping. It is quite and achievement though. You have to wonder where they went from there?
    Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Dave Hull]

This one is the most impressive ornithopter I've seen, although I saw one out at the flying field that was a bit smaller that flew darn good. Amazing what advanced materials and a systems approach can do!

I wonder if they have got a glide mode? It would be way beyond cool to slope soar that machine here off the bluffs of the Pacific. Flap when you need to, but mostly cruise with the gulls.

A have a Bridi Tercel model in white with green wings. It drives the seagull nuts. They are unnerved seemingly by the servo noise. They love to fly formation--but then they get grabby and put their claws into the wing if you let them get on top. If you are in formation and then go into a roll, they really get upset, sometimes stall out and start flapping. Would love to see their reaction to the "thopter.

Dave

[Robert Whitley]

https://news.engineering.utoronto.ca/human-powered-ornithopter-becomes-first-ever-achieve-sustained-flight/

For those interested in this type of aviation here is a link to the first human powered ornithopter.

[Avaiojet]

[Elwyn Aud]

Very impressive. I remember Paul McReady had a team  that built one of those flying dinosaurs about 35 years ago but I can't remember if it did much wing flapping. They had it on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum when I visited in the 1990's.

[Dan McEntee]

Very impressive. I remember Paul McReady had a team  that built one of those flying dinosaurs about 35 years ago but I can't remember if it did much wing flapping. They had it on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space museum when I visited in the 1990's.

    Hey Elwyn;
     That does ring a bell. It was THAT long ago??? They built it for a movie that some one, maybe the Smithsonian, was making. I think it was towed aloft and then could maintain altitude by flapping. I think it was covered in Model Builder magazine. Might be hard to track that one down but maybe those with better search skills can call up the film clip.
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[Dave Hull]

Here's a really poor quality excerpt from the MacCready effort. As I recall, it moved its wings for "realism" but I doubt it derived any significant propulsion or lift from that effort. There has been a long-running argument among scientists about how a creature that large could fly, due to the power to weight ratio. Most seem to believe that it did a lot of gliding. (Take a look at the albatross to see the effect they are discussing.)

Dave

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=pteredactyl+flying+model&&view=detail&mid=0F160FFEB0AD1BB6B99A0F160FFEB0AD1BB6B99A&&FORM=VDRVRV