Page 19 - Design in Nature

Nature photographer
Gilles Martin observing
dragonflies.

In contrast, the flight system of these so-called "primitive insects" is
nothing less than a wonder of design. The world's leading helicopter
manufacturer, Sikorsky, finished the design of one of their helicopters by
6
taking the dragonfly as a model. IBM, which assisted Sikorsky in this
project, started by putting a model of a dragonfly in a computer (IBM 3081).
Two thousand special renderings were done on computer in the light of the
manoeuvres of the dragonfly in air. Therefore, Sikorsky's model for
transporting personnel and artillery was built upon examples derived from
dragonflies.
Gilles Martin, a nature photographer, has done a two year study
examining dragonflies, and he also concluded that these creatures have an
extremely complex flight mechanism.
The body of a dragonfly looks like a helical structure wrapped with
metal. Two wings are cross-placed on a body that displays a colour
gradation from ice blue to maroon. Because of this structure, the dragonfly