AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.

Flapping-wing airplanes are envisioned.

UPI NewsTrack

| February 05, 2008 | COPYRIGHT 2008 United Press International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists are studying birds, bats and insects and their aerobatic efficiencies as a step toward designing flapping-wing airplanes.

University of Michigan engineers said such planes of the future might have wingspans smaller than a deck of playing cards and the aerodynamics of flying animals that can outperform current man-made aircraft.

For example, the engineers note the roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second.

"Natural flyers obviously have ...

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, journals, and more
It's a bird! It's a plane!(PHYSICAL/AERODYNAMICS)(birds as models in designing...
Magazine article from: Science World Brusso, Charlene May 12, 2008 700+ words
...accomplish. By studying the secrets of nature's best flyers, Wei Shyy, an engineer at the University of Michigan, hopes to learn...because their flight is more efficient than that of fixed-wing airplanes. Flapping provides birds with the lift (upward force) needed...
Michigan professor questions university's ties with China.
Newspaper article from: Manufacturing & Technology News June 15, 2007 700+ words
...The University of Michigan and Kauffman's department chair Wei Shyy did not respond to phone inquiries and questions submitted...technology." Kauffman's recently appointed department head, Wei Shyy, lists in his bio as being a guest professor at the Chinese...
Florida's intellectual property. (Space University of Florida).
Magazine article from: Florida Trend March 1, 2003 700+ words
...to continue to rely on the space shuttle for frequent low-orbital missions -- the costs are just too prohibitive," says Wei Shyy, director of the new institute and chair of Florida's Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. "Instead, we...
Fluid Dynamics at Interfaces.(Review)
Magazine article from: Mechanical Engineering-CIME June 1, 2000 700+ words
Wei Shyy and Ranga Narayanan, eds. Cambridge University Press, 40 W. 20th St., New York, NY 10011-4211. 1999. 461 pp. ISBN 0...
Microplanes. (tiny spy planes)(Cover Story)
Magazine article from: Popular Science Chandler, Jerome Greer January 1, 1998 700+ words
...tend to get insufficient lift. There are potential remedies. Jenkins and two other scientists at the University of Florida, Wei Shyy and Richard W. Smith, are working on an adaptive airfoil that changes shape in response to the speed of the air across the...
NASA faces looming engineer shortage; A looming shortage of engineers has the...
Newspaper article from: The Christian Science Monitor February 18, 2003 700+ words
...s progress and raising additional safety concerns. "It's one of the most serious problems at NASA right now," says Wei Shyy, chairman of the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of Florida. "They need to beef up their...
NASA Does Not Have Option of Replacing Columbia, Experts Say.
Newspaper article from: Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News February 6, 2003 700+ words
...shuttle fleet in the future. "We'll have to develop the technology that will eventually fly spacecraft more like aircraft, in terms of safety and maintenance, and that's the focus of this institute," says Wei Shyy, chairman of UF's ae
Scientific Method
Encyclopedia entry from: UXL Encyclopedia of Science January 1, 2002 700+ words
...hypotheses in the minds of scientists. For example, if broad-winged airplanes do fly more efficiently than narrow-wing airplanes, then what is the effect of making the wings fatter or thinner? As soon as that question (or one like it) occurs to...
For more facts and information, see all results
©2009 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
About us | FAQs | Contact us | Privacy policy | Terms and conditions
Other Gale sites: Encyclopedia.com | HighBeam Research | Acquire Content | Books & Authors | Goliath | MovieRetriever | Smart QandA