Can a Human Fly Like a Bird?

D.Reid
PO Box 143 Oneroa, Waiheke Island, AUCKLAND 1840, New Zealand
Email: wearablewings@gmail.com, www.wearablewings.ning.com

OVERVIEW
Is it possible to fly like a bird, with wings that fold into a backpack? This paper looks at the possibility of creating personal
wings with sufficient performance to soar in most daytime weather conditions and concludes that this goal is indeed possible.
I describe the approach I have taken towards realising the dream of wearable folding wings for soaring flight. For good
penetration into headwinds and to fly between thermals, a lift to drag ratio of at least 30:1 is desirable. The threshold sinking
speed for unlimited soaring ability is about 0.3 m/s and at least 0.4 m/s is achievable with wearable folding wings.

LIMITATIONS OF EXISTING DESIGNS STABILITY

Hang-gliders and parafoils are the closest examples to
wearable wings. Hang-gliders tend to suffer from poor lift
distribution and high profile drag due to exposed wires and
struts. Parafoils have very high profile drag due to numerous
suspension lines and exposed pilot position.
Increasing the performance of gliders demands drag
reduction. For a sailplane to climb it has to have a sinking
speed less than the speed of rising air currents. To fly long
distances it must fly fast with low sinking speed. Combining
the two requirements requires reduction in both induced and
profile drags. Induced drag can be reduced through optimum
lift distribution and increased wing span. Artificial wing tip
feathers can also substantially reduce induced drag. Profile
drag can be reduced by improved streamlining and surface
area reduction.
EXPERIMENTS DEMONSTRATING POSSIBILITIES
A project in New Zealand involving Waikato University,
the Waikato Technical Institute and Auckland University
demonstrated a wing that met the above performance
requirements. This was a membrane wing of 15 metre span
and an aspect ratio of 27 and was mounted on a framework
attached to a bus. Load cells measured lift, drag and pitching
moment. Test results showed a best L/D of 50 at 18 m/s
which translates to a sinking speed of 0.3 m/s. The sail was
seamless and the internal kaugis did not touch the membrane,
resulting in a very fair aerofoil contour for minimum drag.
. state of unstable equilibrium. I presented this theory as “The
Testing a Dereidactyl Wing
experiments at Hamilton Airport sponsored by NZ TV
This was a very simple wing with no control system. While
sweep forward and a flexible structure gave it static stability,
it did not have the dynamic stability from a reverse gradient
balance spring.
Finding performance possibilities has little future unless
the resulting wings are stable in flight. This topic has long
interested the author who has been fascinated by tailless
aircraft designs. These were always limited by the need
transfer tailplane function to the wing with consequent loss of
efficiency. Thus the benefits of a tailless configuration were
lost by the requirements for a larger wing.
On the way to New Zealand from Germany to design a new
competition sailplane for the New Zealand Gliding Federation
I was able to observe albatrosses soaring behind the ship. It
was clear from their relaxed flight style that the birds were
very stable in spite of their near tailless configuration. I was
determined to unlock nature’s stability riddle.
I felt there must be a spring element involved yet experiments
showed that there must be another factor. Flight muscle
elasticity spring is the spring and to be effective there had to
be a feedback element which compared wing lift with muscle
tension. The missing aspect was discovered by Dr. A.D.
Sneyd of Waikato University whose mathematical analysis
showed that the spring had to have a reverse gradient.
Looking again at bird anatomy, nature had achieved this
through the deltoid crest on the humerus.
The simple geometry of the deltoid crest provided the key
to achieving pitch stability on an efficient cambered wing.
All birds, bats and pterosaurs exhibit this geometry. This
enables a mechanical feedback system that maintains a
Principles of the Constant ‘g’ Stability System” at CEAS2007.
WEARABLE FOLDING WINGS
Combining all the successful elements makes wearable
folding wings possible. Making membrane wings that fold is
not so difficult. Creating folding wings that tension themselves
via lift forces to achieve an efficient aerofoil shape is more of a
challenge. Making them fold easily and compactly is difficult
and allowing the flyer to extend and furl the wings at will is a
further test of ingenuity.
There is great potential to incorporate retractable artificial
wing tip feathers. Once optimised, the maximum L/D could
rise to 40 and minimum sink reduce to 0.35 m/s. Thanks
to a donation of some carbon fibre windsurfer masts, the
structural weight will be reduced to perhaps 10 kg, a low
value for a complete aircraft high performance sailplane.

Dereidactyl Specifications CONCLUSIONS

wing span 15 m It is both possible and practical to design and build high
wing area 8.3 m2 performance wearable folding wings which enable a flyer to
exploit microlift and thus enjoy extended soaring throughout
aspect ratio 27 the year. This will greatly increase the opportunities for
weight 18 kg enthusiasts to enjoy the sport of soaring at a much reduced
gross weight 80 kg coat with enhanced convenience.

Can a Human Fly Like a Bird? Page 1

INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE
In considering the possibility of a human flying like a bird, it is
useful to consider what sort of gliding ability is necessary for
reliable soaring. Humans are not strong enough to sustain
flight through physical effort hence the ability to extract
energy from the atmosphere is needed. There is always
some movement in the atmosphere. A glider gains energy
from gravity, sliding down a glide-path. To avoid reaching the
ground it must find air rising faster than its descent speed.
Thus the lower the descent speed the greater the chance to
stay aloft.
Hang-gliders and parafoils can only fly in conditions of strong
lift. The same applies to most soaring birds where the larger
species can live only where these conditions prevail. Recently
gliders have been designed to utilise weak lift and are called
microlift gliders. On the chart below, a falcon, parafoil,
The above graph compares sinking speeds of a peregrine falcon, paraglider, hang glider, Archaeopteryx glider and Wearable
Wings. The calculated performance of wearable wings with tip feathers extended is almost identical to the Archaeopteryx. With
tip feathers retracted, the weratble wings show much better penetration.
MINIMUM PERFORMANCE REQUIREMENTS
Gliders design to utilise microlift are able to soar in weak
lift and so extend opportunities for reliable flight. Can a
wearable wing glider be designed and built with this kind of
performance?
To further the wearable folding wing project I developed
a spreadsheet to explore the range of possibilities. As
described in my CEAS2007 paper, “The Principles of the
Constant ‘g’ Stability System”, the spreadsheet can receive
a wide variety of inputs and calculate stability, stresses and
performance.
MICROLIFT SOARING ABILITY PREDICTED
The calculations, using drag coefficients dereived from the
Dereidactyl experments, demonstrate the potential to create
folding wearable wings able to soar in microlift conditions.
Can a Human Fly Like a Bird?
hang-glider, microlift glider, Dereidactyl wing, and Wearable
Wing are compared. My Dereidactyl wing shows the best
performance. This wing never reached a man carrying
state yet its measured performance shows the potential for
development.
The design of wearable folding wings demanded a size that
could be folded into a backpack. Thus the long, narrow
Dereidactyl configuration could not be considered. Nature
uses finger-like wing tip feathers to disperse wing tip vortices
in three dimensions. Emulating these was aided by excellent
research by the Swiss engineer, LaRoche and his WingGrid.
It is not only performance that is important; pilot safety is vital.
The most dangerous phase of flying is landing. For a pilot to
land on his feet, his approach speed must be slow resulting in
the danger of an abrupt wing tip stall and injury. The wing tip
feathers greatly reduce this hazard.
CROSS COUNTRY FLYING
Flying accross country involves two basic elements. The first
is circling in thermals to gain altitude. The second is straight
line flying between thermals.
During cIrcling flight, the wing operates at a high lift coefficient
and at g > 1. A typical circling radius involver g ~ 1.2.
During this phase the ideal wing will have high camber and
no twist. The wing-tip feathers will be fully extended and
fanned.
For high speed inter-thermal flying, the wing-tip feathers
will be retracted and membrane tensioned held as high as
possible. Here, minimum profile drag and surface want to be
at a minimum. A streamlined pilot enclosure is important for
this high speed flight with minimum loss of altitude.
Page 2
WING FOLDING
Folding wings are the norm in nature. Creating high performance soaring wings that fold into a backpack is a challenge not yet
realised. In this section will look at attempts to create a practical configuration that is light, compact, workable and reliable.

The wing plan shown above is the configuration of 1 september 2009. Here the wing spars are made from windsurfer masts.
The wing tip feathers are formed from polypropylene foam with bamboo shafts. The kaugis are foam with carbon fibre caps.

The photos of the FOLDED WING CARBON WING, FEATHERS RETRACTED

folded wing are of
an early version of
the wing without
feathered tips, Jan.
2009. The drawings
show my latest ideas
for kaugi positions.

FOLDED SIZE
How compact should the the folded wings be? I wanted
wings that could be carried on a bus, worn as a backpack
on a bicycle and easily permit walking through doorways.
Limiting joints to three per side and having retractable wing tip
feathers permits a full span of 8 metres with a folded height of
1.2 metres when worn as a backpack.
WING HINGE CONSTRAINTS
Compact folding wings require joints that fold through almost
180 degrees so that spar tubes lie parallel when the wing is
folded. The hinges must resist both bending and torsion.
With a folding wing, the spar stiffness cannot be used to brace
the wing. Instead lift forces can be used combined with a
leading edge tendon also found in nature. This pteroid tendon
supports the wing leading edge and provides the counter-
force to balance membrane tension.
Further sail tension comes from internal kaugis. Since sail
tension needs to increase with speed, these kaugis must
have adjustable length. This length is set by the pilot’s speed
control.
The wing tip kaugis is designed to take bending loads, unlike
the simpler Dereidactyl wing. This avoids high torsional loads
on the hand spar with its wide bracket making room for the
three sets of kaugi.

THREE DIMENSIONAL GEOMETRY
In flight the wing spar is curved in three dimensions yet when
folded need to lie compactly. This is achieved by adjusting
hinge axes.
TENSIONING THE WING
A membrane or sail wing has to be under tension to
function. On boat sails the wind force inflates the sail.
This ceases to be effective at low angles of attack;
the sail begins to luff and loses its designed shape.
This is particularly serious for glider wings since at high
speed they fly at low angles of attack. Two solutions
to this problem include ribs or battens to retain sail
shape or tension applied to the fabric. The 15 metre
span Dereidactyl wing had 7 internal struts called
“kaugis” plus a trailing edge wire tensioned to 30kg.
STRUCTURAL STRENGTH
Each spar element must have sufficient strength to sustain
bending and torsion loads over the complete flight envelope
with an adequate safety margin. Thanks to inherent bending
relief and the feedback stability system, flight loads are
limited to pilot manoeuvres. The stability system limits
imposed loads to defined values. Thus neither gusts nor
piloting can induce excessive flight loads.
MAJOR STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS
nylon feather sheath
carbon hand spar
carbon forearm spar
backpack frame
carbon upper arm

Can a Human Fly Like a Bird? Page 3

STRUCTURE WING STRUCTURE PARTLY FOLDED
For my first attempt, I decided to emulate nature and fashion
the wing spar in terms of upper arm, forearm, hand and fingers.
The shoulder joint is pin jointed and able to transfer bending
loads accross the structure.

FOLDED WING AS A BACK PACK

The photo on the left shows the
complete wing folded on to an
aluminium pack frame. For flight the
pilot is supported by the frame by a
series of straps, not shown here.
This was the focus of the project,
to have the backpack wing unfold
into a high performance sailplane SHOULDER JOINT drag
enabling a person to fly like a bird. GEOMETRY resultant lift
To become operational, the pilot
needs a streamlined envelope and centre spar
helmet.
SHOULDER JOINT & PTEROID
The shoulder joint is pin
jounted, the upper arm balance moment ang
connecting a centre Mb = Mb * tan[angle] le o
f at
tac
tube. This tube can be k
pilot rotated for speed shoulder pivot
adjustment. The pteroid
tendon geometry is the The shoulder pin transfers most of the flying loads to the
basis for pitch stability. centre spar. The remainder is resisted by the stability
balance spring. This proportion varies with the angle of
ELBOW PIN JOINT attack of the wing.
The elbow joint is offset
to permit the spar tubes SHOULDER FROM UNDERSIDE SHOWING
to fold against each REVERSE GRADIENT SPRING GEOMETRY
other. The hinge pin is
angled so that the ex-
tended spars form an
arch matching the wing trailing edge shape. This hinge has to
support both bending and torsion and the present arrangement
is more mock-up than engineering.

WRIST JOINT, PTEROID STRUT & PTEROID TENDON

feather sheath
forearm
hand

PACKFRAME, WING STRUCTURE AND SAIL WING FROM PORT AFT QUARTER, JANUARY 2009

Can a Human Fly Like a Bird? Page 4

STABILITY and restoring lost lift. Compensating wing twist is helpful to
maintain lift if angle of attack is reduced without involving high
In order to achieve maximum performance, the wearable
inertia pilot rotation. The wing must actually develop more lift
wings’s efficiency and surface area needs to be minimised.
than weight since the initial lift loss means some altitude is lost
Using Nature’s Constant ‘g’ Stability System allows stable
as well. This is why to reverse gradient spring is essential to
flight without a tail. Constant ‘g’ Stability is a mechanical
achieve dynamic stability.
feedback system that maintains a state of unstable equilibrium
by balancing wing lift against spring tension. HOW THE SYSTEM SEEKS EQUILIBRIUM
To ensure longitudinal stability, basic principles must be Constant ‘g’ stability is an active feedback system which
followed. The system balances spring tension against a lift maintains a state of unstable equilibrium. It is a mechanical
dependent factor. Only in this way can the system detect equivalent to modern ‘fly by wire’ used in military aircraft. The
changes in ‘g’ forces. In other words, pitch stability is based stability system involves two unstable elements which combine
on measuring vertical acceleration changes. to form a stable one. The first one is an unstable cambered wing
THE NECESSITY OF A NEGATIVE SPRING RATE and the second is a reverse gradient balance spring.
A factor that is perhaps the hardest to grasp is the need for the An unstable wing cannot be made stable by itself unless there
balance spring to have a negative spring rate. The system is in is some means to create an aerodynamic correcting moment.
equilibrium when spring tension balances a defined lift moment. This can take the form of inducing twist, sweep and or camber
If the wing loses altitude then extra lift is required to regain change. The reverse gradient spring has no stable balance
lost altitude; however, a lift decrease results in reduced spring point. If the wing alters its pitching moment with lift changes to
tension. This contrdiction is resolved through a negative spring produce a restoring moment, the reverse gradient spring allows
rate. Before flying, the spring moment is at a maximum
HOW GEOMETRY MUST CHANGE WITH LIFT and spring tension is lowest. There is only one
Lift changes must be accompanied by changes in wing twist point where balance is achieved.
and sweep that produce a restoring moment, a negative pitch down
feedback mechanism. These effects must be compatable
with wing folding and must resolve inherent conflicts. pivot L=W
SYSTEM BALANCE
For the system to work, spring tension extends the wing while
lift forces fold the wing. At equilibrium, balance occurs when pitch up
g
lift equals weight. The pilot’s manoeuvre control adjusts this rin
sp
balance setting. FINDING EQUILIBRIUM
CONFIGURATION IN NATURE with a wing reverse gradient
In nature, two mechanisms operate together: spring system
1. The flight muscle acts between the deltoid crest on the There is only one point
humerus and the breastbone. The elasticity of the flight where net moments
muscle is the balance spring. Lifting loads cause the humerus sta are zero and this is
to lift up and rotate, the to a lower incidence. A lift decrease + ble the lift about which the
sta trim
causes dihedral to decrease and incidence to increase. M bili system is stable.
tys
2. When flying, lifting forces have to keep the wing extended lop
e
so that the creature does not have to waste energy. This is lift effect
achieved by angling hinge axes so that lift forces extend the
wing. 0

SUMMARY OF STABILITY PRINCIPLES

1. Balance spring acts between humerus deltoid crest and body. - effect of wing camber
2. Spring gradient is reversed by humerus geometry.
(effective only through a narrow angular range)
3. Degree of stability depends on the restoring moment per g.
STABILITY AND THE WEARABLE FOLDING WING balance spring
Unlike nature, I designed the upper arm soar to have a pin joint
instead of a ball joint. This eliminates the option of spar twist
with lift change and so creating a restoring moment requires a
different mechanism. A lift increase causes the upper arm to
increase its sweep angle. This sweeps the wing back and also
reduces spanwise tension producing a correcting pitch down
moment.
INERTIA AND THE SPEED OF CORRECTION
The stability system maintains a state of unstable equilibrium
and low pitching inertia and quick correction are important ACHIEVING THEORY IN PRACTISE
aspects. The first component to move is the humerus since it In creating wearable folding wings it is important to keep
is directly connected to the spring. theory constantly in mind since it is all too easy to design
For example, with a lift reduction, the humerus will swing forward non-viable mechanisms. The trickiest aspect has been the
forcing the forarm out, tensioning the wing, increasing tension reverse gradient spring mechanism.

Can a Human Fly Like a Bird? Page 5

DIRECTIONAL STABILITY
Neither birds, bats or pterosaurs have vertical tails. Directional
stability relies on wing planform. The picture on the left shows
three bird planforms which achieve
directional stability in different ways.
The frigate bird at the top has its inner
wing swept forward with dihedral
and its outer wing swept back with
anhedral. The pelican in the middle
has a similar planform except for
splayed wing tip feathers. The eagle
below has a slightly swept forward
wing with dihedral. Below, the condor
and pelican illustrate the consistancy
within nature.
The royal albatross shows the
typical sea bird planform with its
swept back wing tips
The gull and fruit
bats have similar
wing shaped that
give directional and
lateral stability.
Gull
LATERAL STABILITY
Similar factors affect lateral or sideslip stability. The membrane
wing requires a vertical spar bow to match the trailing edge
deflection with lift. This means dihedral on the inner wing and
anhedral on the outer wing.
WEARABLE WING PLANFORM with tip feathers retracted.
It relies on sweep and dihedral for lateral stability.
The precise degree of directional and lateral stability can be
determined mathematically. As observed in nature, there is
wide tolerance in the choice of wing shape. The essence is
an inner wing with sweep forward and dihedral with an outer
wing having sweep back and anhedral.
Large pterosaurs had long heads at the end of an extended
neck. This arrangement should be impossibly unstable in
yaw. It worked because it was part of a dynamic system
whereby head inertia played an essential part.
Can a Human Fly Like a Bird?
CONTROL
Constant ‘g’ stability is a mechanical feedback system. Pilot
control is via adjusting the parameters of the system rather
than direct control movement. For example, the system is
stable about a single airspeed for a given g setting. To fly
at a different speed, the pilot changes the wing camber. To
manoeuvre and fly at a different g setting, the pilot adjusts
the effective balance spring tension. Directional and lateral
control involve differential adjustment.
A person wearing backpack wings has only two hands for
control. For optimum streamlining, the pilots arms and
hands must be contained within the wing’s contour except for
protruding head and feet.
I concluded that the best position would be with hands by
hips, the control levers extending from the backpack towards
the pilot’s front. Control options include levers moving fore
and aft, side to side, twist grips and brake type levers. In
longitudinal flight, the pilot needs to control manoeuvre and
speed. With my wearable wings, the shoulder hinge pins
resist most of the wing bending loads. Spring tension resists
the residual loads. For manoeuvre, rotating the centre spar
alters the ratio of air loads between hinge pin and balance
spring and so alter’s the wing’s equilibrium point.
TRIM SPEED
Flight speed is determined by adjusting another equilibrium
point. Feedback always seeks a zero moment balance
point where lift moments balance camber induced pitching
moments. In level flight, lift moments are constant and
camber moments vary with speed, there is only one speed at
which the wing is in equilibrium. Thus, the pilot adjusts flying
speed with a camber control.
Camber can be adjusted in two ways. The first is by varying
the angle of the frame mounted centre kaugis. For slower
flight, camber is increased. The second is by varying
membrane tension. This can be achieved through upper arm
angle and wing kaugi adjustment to change both spanwise
and chordwise tension. This tension needs to increase with
airspeed.
GIVING THE GLIDER INSTRUCTIONS
With constant ‘g’ stability, the pilot does not control the wing
directly, but gives it instructions. Wing stability is such that it
seeks equilibrium airspeed and lift. This means that the wing
flies itself until new instructions are received. Thus, a landing
approach in gusty air requires no pilot input to maintain a
constant descent angle and airspeed.
A consequence of this is the option to have control locks such
that control input is only possible when the lock is released
such as with a bicycle brake lever. This can result in more
relaxed pilot control since no input is required unless the
pilot wants to a change, the wing being largely immune to air
turbulence.
CIRCLING FLIGHT
Circling requires flight at more than one g to compensate for
centrifugal force. The pilot must adjust both manoeuvre and
speed to circle at particular circle radius such as in a thermal.
The most convenient controls for the pilot could be twist grips
for differential wing twist plus adjustment of manoeuvre and
speed with arm levers.
On a glider the elevator controls both manoeuvre and speed.
Page 6
AEROFOIL
The wearable folding wing uses a double surfaced tensioned
membrane to create its aerodynamic shape. This is combined
with five artificial wing tip feathers that can retract into the
membrane for high speed flight and also for wing folding.
A membrane derives its aerofoil shape from air pressure.
Tension is maintained by internal struts called “kaugis”.
These to not touch the membrane and insure a very fair profile
provided tension is equalised to prevent creases.
ARTIFICIAL WING TIP FEATHERS
Emulating nature’s wing tip feathers confers a number of
aerodynamic advantages.
1. substantial reduction in induced drag
2. resistance to wing tip stalling
Both help to make wearable folding wings a practical propo-
sition.
The above photo shows dramatically the prominent wing tip
feathers which serve to diffuse the wing tip vortex in three
dimensions. This reduces losses due to induced drag by a
factor of two at high lift coefficients, greatly enhancing soaring
ability in narrow thermals.
I have made my artificial wing tip feathers from polypropolyne
foam, cut with a hot wire. this material is light, tough and
easily formed. The feather shafts are bamboo which are
supported by an aluminium frame which slides on a curtain
track for retraction.
Can a Human Fly Like a Bird?
ARTIFICIAL FEATHER CHALLENGES
Not surprisingly, creating and deploying artificial feathers
presents a number of challenging problems. This is especially
true when the feathers must also be retractable.
FEATHER FLEXIBILITY
Very apparent in nature is the way the feathers flex with air
loads. I feel this is to help diffuse the tip vortexes in three
dimensions while at the same time facilitate wing folding. The
folded feathers have to slide over each other.
The polypropolyne foam is very flexible while the bamboo
feather shafts can be shaved to optimum thickness for correct
deflection under air loads. Untimately carbon fibre shafts
could replace bamboo.
RETRACTION
For both wing folding and high speed flight, the feathers can
be retracted inwards within the double surfaced membrane.
When the feather fan is closed,
it can slide on a track within a
nylon sheath which protects the
feathers.
With feathers retracted, both
wing span and area are
decreased, reducing drag
and increasing high speed
performance.
EFFECT OF CENTRE KAUGI DEFLECTION
Increasing centre kaugis deflection alters wing camber of
the inner wing, increasing wing lift and inducing a pitch up
moment. This will be an important element for speed control.
My spreadsheet works out the effect for different speeds.
ADVANTAGE OF A MATHEMATICAL MODEL
A folding wing is necessarily complex and a computer model
is a great help. My spreadsheet has 168 named variables.
This gives an idea of the difficulty of predicting flight behaviour.
Thanks to inherent feedback, stability and control is not as
daunting as it might seem.
PILOT SUPPORT
The flyer need to be firmly attached to the wing. I have
chosen a combination of two methods, a series of straps to
the backpack frame and a streamlined envelope integrated
into the sail. During take-off and landing, the pilot is supported
solely by the straps with his legs free for running. Once
airbourne the pilot slides his legs inside the envelope and zips
himself in.
While not strictly necessary, a soft, foldable streamlined helmet
integrating with the envelope will enhance performance and
increase safety. Since the wings are folding and wearable, it
is important that the pilot can easily wear or carry the folded
wings while walking and travelling. To this end, the backframe
has conventional shoulder straps.
CROSS-SECTION AT THE WINGTIP
showing how the feathers angle to
suit the local air flow. They form a
cascade which makes them
very resistant to stalling.
Page 7
BACKGROUND
The aerodynamics of gliding have facinated me for a long time. I first worked for the glider
builders Glasflűgel because of wanting to learn more about fiberglass construction but naturally
became fascinated by their sleek products.

In the 1070’s, I worked

with Dr Alfred Sneyd, a
mathematics professor
at Waikato University,
Hamilton New Zealand.
We wanted to discover
how the pterosaurs
balanced without tails,
and we did!

Can a Human Fly Like Bird? Page 8

DEREIDACTYL PROJECT

FILMING STABILITY EXPERIMENTS BY THE AUSTRALIAN TV PROGRAM “BEYOND 2000” After moving from Ham-
ilton to Waiheke Island,
I started experiment-
ing with new ways of
achieving constant g
stability.

I did not feel able to

emulate nature and so
searched for alternate
mechanisms.

A friend was able to

interest the Australian
TV science program Be-
yond 2000 to film some
experiments with some
model wings.

Can a Human Fly Like Bird? Page 9

 WILL HUMANS BE ABLE TO FLY LIKE BIRDS?
This is the culmination of my life’s work. The search
has not been continuous yet like nature it is evolutionary.
Building wearable folding wings is work in progress and
input from others if success is to be realised.

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