| Author | Message | ||
     Sifo |
Pretty cool if this is on the level...
http://www.humanbirdwings.net/wp-content/uploads/2 012/03/Press-Release-HBW2.pdf Let me just say that I have my doubts. I haven't gone through his website though. | ||
| Johnnylunchbox |
That's pure horsepoop. Is it April 1st yet. | ||
| Glitch |
If man were meant to fly God would have given him wings  Looks impossible, I'm no engineer or aviator, but it seems you'd need more than that backpack to produce enough power to get a human off the ground. I remember when a human powered airplane crossed the English Channel. They were having a hard time with making the wigs long light and strong enough, not to mention how much power the human needed to produce to get lift. | ||
| Wolfridgerider |
Man... what I would give to be in a duck blind with semi auto 12 Gauge! How much do you think it would cost to have mounted? | ||
| Darth_villar |
You could probably trade the GoPro on his helmet for the mounting fee. Pretty funny, and completely fake lol. | ||
| Hughlysses |
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| Johnnylunchbox |
That is totally photoshopped. lulz | ||
| Barker |
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| Aesquire |
IM not so humble O fake. Cute though. I've met and talked with Paul McReady. The Gossamer Condor & Albatross are both logical extensions of then current Hang Glider construction. Wire Braced, Kingpost, triangulated structure. The Gossamer Albatross used a nifty technique for it's ( then ) bleeding edge carbon fibre main spars. The cloth was wrapped around hang glider tubing, and then cured. Acid was used to dissolve the aluminum tubing, leaving the carbon behind. Why I'd bet it's fake. 1. wing area enough for a hang glider, but not a human powered craft, or even an electric assist ornithopter. ( yes you CAN make a powered ornithopter fly. No it's not that easy ) 2. not enough structure, even in Kevlar and unobtanium, to support the wings and ribs under load. It's just not there. 3. No idea what he's using for gears & levers, since they seem to be invisible. High powered electric motors exist that could run an ornithopter, figure 10-25 seconds before the laptop batteries die. I have a fine appreciation for the masses involved in electric airplanes, and he just can't carry more than 1+ hang glider mass plus a powerful enough motor plus enough batteries to take off and get that high. 3. The shape of the wing under load in the video is just wrong. Unless he is using extruded diamond struts, or some other new to me stuff, that is the shape of that wing with a light breeze inflating it. It's not even the right shape under gliding flight loads. Period. I've done ( primitive, but practical, and scientifically/engineering valid ) load testing of aircraft structure, with sand bags. That's the shape of an unloaded wing. Badly designed wing, to boot. 4. there is no video of take off. No video of flight with background references. No proof of any success in design, construction, or gliding flight. | ||
| Hootowl |
I want to believe. ~Fox Mulder | ||
| Xdigitalx |
freakin hilarious video's... these may work better  | ||
| Aesquire |
Actually the Wii controller setup is pretty cool. That means it's not human powered at all. Also the wings ( windsurfer sails ) don't put any pressure on the arms, a serious issue in wingsuits and Ornithopters. Btw. Ex Gov. Ex Terminator Arnie doesn't have enough arm strength to fly. Bryan Allen was a bicycle racer who flew hang gliders. One of those darn skinny high energy guys us fat ones hate. Very good power to mass ratio. As an aside, when the Smithsonian asked for the Gossamer Condor for historic display, MacCready was thrilled. He told me the story about showing up in DC with the Condor broken down for transport in his van. Greeted by the curators, he asked where they wanted it and offered to assemble it for them, once they had carried it inside. ( it weighs 70 lbs. ) They had no idea it was that big. No, bigger. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Condor | ||
| Whatever |
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| Slaughter |
People MUST learn to question what's on the net. Why do you think spam is so common? Why do you think modern myths can spread so fast? Common sense ISN'T! | ||
| Prowler |
That's got to be one of the stupidest things I've seen in a long time. So fake it's hard to believe they'd be dumb enough to post it in the first place. I'd question if that setup would even work being towed by a car. They're probably looking for funds  to perfect the design........ now's your chance to get in on the ground floor...... (Message edited by prowler on March 24, 2012) |
