Human Powered Flight

[supernova1965]

Man achieves human powered flight with wings he built over 8 months controlled by an android phone and 2 Wii motion plus controllers and a Wii nunchuck. An amazing video something I would love as I have had flying dreams all my life.


http://gizmodo.com/5894904/man-flies-like-a-bird-flapping-his-own-wings

[Omaroo]

I don't know about this. I come away somehow unconvinced, so call me cynical. ;) Yes, there is mention within the Gizmodo article that it has been witnessed by journalists over there in Europe, but a couple of things bug me.

First - the quality of this video is woeful. Taken from behind at a distance and with a hand-held camera. No side-on or front-on aspects. No real close-up of the "historic" flight at all. Was this meant to be the inaugural flight? The article copy didn't tell me.

Second - the flight surfaces do not appear stressed. There doesn't appear to be any of the "full" look you see in hang glider wings when they're under load. The trailing edge surfaces are even "floppy".

Third - Power consumption. Brushless DC "outrunner" motors are commercially available with some pretty handy power ratings - such as 2kW for larger electric-powered models. LiPo batteries will service these for reasonable periods of time - but not minutes on end at high rates.

Lastly, control. What about rear control surfaces? He does a pretty dandy job of the landing - flapping away like a bird. I would have thought he'd just glide in. How does he adjust his flight attitude? There is no easily visible means of shifting his centre of gravity.

I look forward to more convincing evidence that it's real. :thumbsup:

[supernova1965]

Good points Chris,

I would like some confirmation as to whether this is real I must say I would love it to be real have to troll the net to see if I can confirm it.

[koputai]

I think they're eleven days early for April Fools Day.

Cheers,
Jason.

[Deeno]

Video is as dodgy as you can get!

I think someones having a good laugh..........

[Poita]

http://www.snopes.com/photos/technology/humanbirdwings.asp

Snopes is always my first port of call.

[Omaroo]

This was only just entered there Peter - it wasn't available the other day. My suspicions were correct then.

[alistairsam]

found this with a google search. but doesnt explain technical details of how they pulled it off even with CGI, just that the poor focus masked CGI errors.
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/22/dutch-artist-admits-faking-viral-human-bird-wings-video/

but if just the wireless interface is real, that is impressive in itself.
custom building it from scratch is easier than interfacing a phone and wii controllers although I've seen a video of a wii controller controlling a telescope.

so is the limitation for bird flight the fact that we can't get enough lift to lift our body weight? the gymbals for the wing rod have the wing flap mechanism of birds quite close. there are bird robots that fly by flapping their wings. shouldnt be too far off for humans though.

[Screwdriverone]

Notwithstanding the hoax revelation, here are few things I noticed, that smelled funny....

Camera is ALWAYS looking at his back,

Guys run out of the way before he starts, why are they in a hurry to get clear? (unless he is being pulled by a car on a tow cable?)

Why does he run off so fast (unless he is being pulled by a car on a tow cable?)

Why does he land and then KEEP running? (unless he is being pulled by a car on a tow cable?)

During his "head cam" shot in flight, you can actually see the tyre tracks in the grass caused my "theoretical" tow vehicle......hmmmmm....

When he starts, he holds the wings vertical to shield the camera from what is pulling him??

Same again when he lands, but he keeps on running? WHY?

He NEVER shows you the front of the harness from the front before or during flight.....if I was legitimately the first human to do this, why wouldnt I turn around and celebrate after landing, nope, he just keeps running away?????

How the hell do you pull your legs up horizontal WHILE flapping your arms and keep them there (certainly not from the wind blowing them back, he is only doing a few knots....) must have ABS of steel, there is not enough rigidity in the tail for him to slide his feet into the fabric like a hang glider does to keep them up.

The claims of CGI are too complicated....its relatively EASY to remove a single tow cable from a clear blue sky/background and even from the "helmet cam shots" rather than try to fake the wings etc etc....

Im sure there is more, but I have finished my rant for now...

Cheers

Chris