4 ms·

How to tame an ornithopter

32 points by app4soft 7y ago

simonebrunozzi 7y ago
This story is simply fantastic. I like the idealistic stubbornness of investors like this one.
cwkoss 7y ago
If we ever successfully colonize the moon, the recreational activity I'm most excited for is being able to fly by flapping wings attached to your arms in pressurized domes (or spheres, if near a space elevator instead). We aren't strong enough to fly with artificial wings on earth gravity, but it seems like moon gravity could work pretty well. (I think this idea is from an Arthur C Clarke novel?)
- Fnoord 7y ago
  Before I opened this page, I was thinking about Dune 2 and the book Dune (Atreides used ornithopters).
- _ph_ 7y ago
  Heinlein :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth
  - cwkoss 7y ago
    Thanks! I think I read a different short story that used this idea, but it seems Menace from Earth likely predated the one I read - probably the first instance of this idea in print?
- fernly 7y ago
  Robert Heinlein, "The Menace From Earth" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth sorry, should have refreshed the page oftener...
- perilunar 7y ago
  > We aren't strong enough to fly with artificial wings on earth gravity So what? Just use a lightweight powered exoskeleton to augment your strength. It will likely happen decades before pressurised domes on the moon, too.
saidajigumi 7y ago
PSA: Please don't put your self-signed cert on the open web. Figure out Let's Encrypt, or just go vanilla http.
- app4soft 7y ago
  Just tweeted to site owners, hope they will solve it.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1138540511713746950 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1138540511713746950
cr0sh 7y ago
This site claims: "For over thirty years, he has been studying, modelling, building and testing his own ornithopter — an invention that was first conceived some five hundred years ago, but is yet to be implemented successfully." This is so falsely absurd I am not sure where to begin. Many ornithopters have been constructed that flew or fly successfully; there have even been a few successful full-scale attempts. Most were models, though. A recent model implementation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274008848/metafly-a-new-flying-experience https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274008848/metafly-a-new... ...which was inspired by a much older toy - which itself (if we're being honest) was probably based off of even older examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter Then you have Paul MacCready's Pterodactyl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_MacCready https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_MacCready I won't go on...
- app4soft 7y ago
  Original article about human story (something like Hemingway's "The Old and the Sea"), not about tech thing.
- Isamu 7y ago
  I thought the same but they apparently mean only a human-powered ornithopter, which I believe is still an open problem. And for good reason.
zoomablemind 7y ago
The whole site is a great collection of stories about 'unexplored' Ukraine. Their project idea is like an ethnographic expedition, visiting diverse destinations in Ukraine to collect/record people stories. Amazingly, the written content is also very well translated. A true gem, especially given the uneasy times people of Ukraine are still going through.

32 points by app4soft 7y ago

This story is simply fantastic. I like the idealistic stubbornness of investors like this one.

If we ever successfully colonize the moon, the recreational activity I'm most excited for is being able to fly by flapping wings attached to your arms in pressurized domes (or spheres, if near a space elevator instead). We aren't strong enough to fly with artificial wings on earth gravity, but it seems like moon gravity could work pretty well. (I think this idea is from an Arthur C Clarke novel?)

Fnoord 7y ago
Before I opened this page, I was thinking about Dune 2 and the book Dune (Atreides used ornithopters).
_ph_ 7y ago
Heinlein :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth
- cwkoss 7y ago
  Thanks! I think I read a different short story that used this idea, but it seems Menace from Earth likely predated the one I read - probably the first instance of this idea in print?
fernly 7y ago
Robert Heinlein, "The Menace From Earth" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth sorry, should have refreshed the page oftener...
perilunar 7y ago
> We aren't strong enough to fly with artificial wings on earth gravity So what? Just use a lightweight powered exoskeleton to augment your strength. It will likely happen decades before pressurised domes on the moon, too.

saidajigumi 7y ago

PSA: Please don't put your self-signed cert on the open web. Figure out Let's Encrypt, or just go vanilla http.

app4soft 7y ago
Just tweeted to site owners, hope they will solve it.[0] [0] https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1138540511713746950 https://twitter.com/app4soft/status/1138540511713746950

cr0sh 7y ago

This site claims: "For over thirty years, he has been studying, modelling, building and testing his own ornithopter — an invention that was first conceived some five hundred years ago, but is yet to be implemented successfully." This is so falsely absurd I am not sure where to begin. Many ornithopters have been constructed that flew or fly successfully; there have even been a few successful full-scale attempts. Most were models, though. A recent model implementation: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274008848/metafly-a-new-flying-experience https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/274008848/metafly-a-new... ...which was inspired by a much older toy - which itself (if we're being honest) was probably based off of even older examples: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ornithopter Then you have Paul MacCready's Pterodactyl: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_MacCready https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_MacCready I won't go on...

app4soft 7y ago
Original article about human story (something like Hemingway's "The Old and the Sea"), not about tech thing.
Isamu 7y ago
I thought the same but they apparently mean only a human-powered ornithopter, which I believe is still an open problem. And for good reason.

zoomablemind 7y ago

The whole site is a great collection of stories about 'unexplored' Ukraine. Their project idea is like an ethnographic expedition, visiting diverse destinations in Ukraine to collect/record people stories. Amazingly, the written content is also very well translated. A true gem, especially given the uneasy times people of Ukraine are still going through.