Page 102 - Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Biomimetics: Technology Imitates Nature

Scientists agree that considerable
progress has been made in aviation
technology. When it comes to micro-
flapping flight, however, they admit
that they are still at the same stage that
the Wright Brothers were in 1903.
Above: A micro-flight system modeled
on insect wings. Right: The Wright
Brothers’ first plane.

plane wings, is insufficient.
Fruit flies actually make use of more than one aerodynamic feature.
For example, when they flap their wings, they leave behind them a com-
plicated whirlpool of air currents, rather like the wake of a ship. As the
wing reverses direction, it passes back through this churning air, recover-
ing some of the energy lost beforehand. The muscles that allow the fruit
fly's only 2.5 mm wings to flap 200 times a second are considered as the

most powerful of all insects’ flight muscles. 69
Many other details in addition to their wings, the flies’ sharp eyes,

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