Human-Powered Omithopter Would Make 'da Vinci Proud'

As kids, we dreamt of a day we'd flap and take off into the great blue yonder to travel amongst  the birds , right ? On the swings , we pumped higher until at last , for an exhilarating  second , we would let go as we reached maximum height  and soared freely through the air , experiencing complete independence from terra  firma.

When did we stop trying to fly ? When did we  become so content with remaining beholden to gravity ? Todd Reichert never gave up on his silly dream.

After years of planning and development with a team  made up of some of the best  and brightest in aeronautical engineering , Recihert , a PhD candidate at the University of Toronto's Institute of Aerospace Studies , recently achieved what we all dream of doing : Flying by simply flapping his wings.

Reichert was able to achieve  such a feat through the use of the "Snowbird" Ornithopter , the result of four years of development and construction . A super- lightweight aircraft , the Snowbird is able to fly exclusively through the power of Riechert flapping his wings. It made aviation  history by becoming the first-ever human-powered  aircraft to attain sustained flight for a full 19.3 seconds.

While that may not seem like an impressive amount of time , it is important to keep in mind that human-powered flight has been attempted  -- but not successfully accomplished  --  for centuries , ever since Leonardo da Vinci drew up the first design for such  a machine in 1485.

Just a thought :   Reading about the Omithopter  and the way Reichart never gave up on his dream brings to mind we shouldn't give up on saving our planet , but we have to work together.....wake up folks, look around you and see the changes in the "Climate"  and the worst is  yet to come.