Page 262 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

Dragonflies cannot fold their wings, and their flight muscles and
the way they move their wings are different from those of other in-
sects. On account of these features alone, evolutionists refer to drag-
onflies as “primitive” insects. Yet their flight system is actually a mar-
vel of creation.
Skorsky, the world’s foremost helicopter manufacturer, used the
dragonfly as a model for one of the helicopters it developed. 1 IBM,
which collaborated with Skorsky on this project, transferred a drag-
onfly’s image onto an IBM 3081 computer. Some 2000 special images
were then produced, based on the dragonfly’s aerial maneuvers. By
the end of the study, Skorsky used the model that emerged to produce
a helicopter for carrying troops and equipment.
Nature photographer Gillian Martin carried out a two-year study
of dragonflies, 2 which showed that these insects possess a highly com-
plex flight system.
The dragonfly’s head, thorax, and segmented abdomen give the
impression that it is covered in metal or plastic. Thanks to the two di-
agonal pairs of wings on its throrax, which can be of various colors
from ice-blue to dark red, the dragonfly has a very high level of ma-
neuverability. No matter what its speed and direction, it can suddenly
stop and begin flying in the opposite direction—or hover in the air,
waiting for a suitable moment to attack its prey. From there, it can per-
form sharp turns as it goes into the attack, quickly attaining a speed of
40 kilometer/hour (24.85 miles per hour), which is astonishing for an
insect. Sprinters running at the Olympic Games can manage only 39
kilometers/hour (24.23 mph).