Is This the First Man in History to Fly Like a Bird Flapping His DIY Wings?
- Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:40pm by
Liz Klimas
- Print »
- Email »
Jarno Smeets designs wings he can flap with motor assistance to fly like a bird. (Photo: Human birdwings)
Who hasn’t dreamed at some point of having the ability to fly like a bird? While many may share this dream, few have taken it upon themselves to do anything about it.
Some daredevils have opted for wingsuit jumping — diving off the top of a high precipice and gliding through the air in a specially designed suit — but this arguably could be considered glorified falling. Taking off from the ground and rising upward is a much more challenging situation, but a mechanical engineer from the Netherlands has created DIY wings to do it.
(Related: Wingsuit stuntman flies through narrow cave opening in China)
Jarno Smeets, in his second and latest test run, flew for 100 meters using his man-made wings. The press release announcing Smeets’ liftoff boasts that this is the first time in human history a man has flown flapping wings like a bird.
(Updated: Man who flew like a bird in viral video admits farce was part of an online experiment)
Smeets suiting up. (Photo: Human Birdwings)
Screenshot of Smeets flying.
Screenshot from Smeets' hemet cam.
Watch Smeets takeoff, soar and gracefully land:
Smeets explains on his blog that he was inspired by Leonardo da Vinci and his grandfather, who had several design sketches for a winged bicycle. It appears that Smeets only started working on the project in August 2011 and he chronicled his progress on his blog “Human Birdwings.”
Design sketch(Photo: Human Birdwings)
Mechanics (Photo: Human Birdwings)
While it may look like Smeets arms are doing all the work in the video, as you might have suspected, he is assisted by a motor. He writes about the power he would need in a post:
My back-of-the-napkin calculations say that we would need about 2000W of continuous power. Well-trained arms can output about 5% of that, so we will rely mainly on the motor for flapping the wings. Lightweight motors that output 2000W aren’t hard to find. My first goal is to stay in the air for about 5 minutes, therefore we will need a 166 watthour batterypack, which weighs around 1400 grams.
Because human arms aren’t very strong, they will mainly function as guides, to control the flapping wing movements in a natural and intuitive way. These calculation are made for an ideal situation. Any inefficiencies aren’t taken into account, this will be found out by trial and error.
Smeets used a WiiMote and the HTC WildfireS to measure various factors with regard to acceleration and motion arms. Measuring these factors allow for calculation that will give the user the supplemental assistance they need from the motors to flap the wings and fly. He writes that it took weeks to refine of the software between the HTC phones and WiiMote to get the correct flapping movement of the wings. The release has more on the technology:
Until now people had assumed that it was impossible to fly with bird-like wings using human muscle power. Smeets designed his own system to solve this problem, using two Wii controllers, the accelerometers from a HTC Wildfire S smartphone and Turnigy motors. This combined mechanism provided Smeets with extra power to move his 17m2 wings and allowed him to move his arms freely without any risk of breaking them. The system is a wireless (haptic) concept.
Smeets gives a demo of how the tech works to help flap the wings:
As for construction of the wings themselves, they are based on an aluminum frame, carbon windsurf masts and kite material.
Watch Smeets’ first test flight:
Clearly, Smeets et al have made some adjustments to the design to get the lift and distance they achieved in the second go around. Smeets said after this second test, “I have always dreamed about this. But after 8 months of hard work, research and testing it all payed off.”
Check out the sequence of all of Smeets progress along the way on his video blog here.
[H/T Gizmodo]
Popular Stories
Does Misstated Marathon Claim Prove Paul Ryan Is Dishonest? (POLL) 697 Comments
Paper Details Obama Admin’s Alleged Secret Note Sent to Iran: If Israel Attacks, We Won’t Get Involved 529 Comments
Roseanne Barr: Most Billionaires ‘Violent Pedophiles’ & ‘Heartless’ Cocaine Addicts 355 Comments
‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 355 Comments
This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
Faith
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
Pakistani Muslim Cleric Accused of Framing Disabled Christian Girl in Koran-Burning Case Read More- ‘Made Up Religion’: TV Historian Enrages Muslims, Receives Threats After Producing UK Documentary Questioning Islam’s Beginnings 355 Comments
Meet the Controversial German Imam Accused of Brutally Beating His Wife & Pushing Sharia Law Read More
‘Self-Proclaimed Messiah’ & Unification Church Leader the Rev. Sun Myung Moon Has Died — Here’s His Life Story Read More
Business
- President Obama Issues Major ‘Green Energy’ Executive Order 270 Comments
- Germany’s Upcoming Court Ruling Will be Huge for the EU Read More
Ford Looks to Beat Toyota for Best-Selling Car in 2012 With This Model 148 Comments
Bernanke & QE3: Here’s What You Need to Know Read More- ‘Extortion’: Why Did the Labor Department ‘Drop the Hammer’ on Oregon Farmers? 302 Comments
Technology
- This Is the Creationists‘ Response to Scientist Bill Nye’s Viral Pro-Evolution Video Claiming They Harm Children 347 Comments
‘TaserDrone’: Hackers Weaponize Quadcopter With Actual ‘Shocking’ Technology Read More
Ever Heard of the Wild ‘Burning Man’ Festival in the Middle of the Nev. Desert? Here’s Your Primer Read More
Stanford Develops Technology ‘Better Than Steroids’ for Athlete Recovery Read More
Have You Pretended to Know What ‘the Cloud’ Is? You’re Not Alone Read More
Submitting your tip... please wait!
Comments (135)
dsind
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:26pmlmao
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:47pmThen the fat, balding, lazy, worthless, government slug steps in…”..excuse me,do you have a permit for that ?…… Buy bullets people !
Report Post »cuinsong
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 12:14amExcuse me but he is using a motor and so this is not human powered flight like birds! Its just another motorized form of flight that mimics bird wing movement to fly.
Report Post »So what? People on windy beaches have been taking off from a standing position and parasailing like seagulls in the wind for hours at a time without any motorized help at all.
Sorry this is a losing proposition.
Too much work and it does not look safe to me!
Maybe he can turn it into an exercise machine that flies?
Good try but no banana.
I think that if you keep sinking money into this idea that this song will come true for you called
“Good Luck Ring” http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_12524863
IvanK
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:04amCUINSONG,
Report Post »Wow – aren’t you a ray of sunshine! Date much?
The fact is that this ingenious gentleman has created of first of it’s kind flying device. BFD that his invention has a battery powered assist. The bottom line is that his creation has not only inherent beauty, form, and function – but proof of concept!
While I don’t foresee everyone going to work in this any time soon, his invention is testimony to the creativeness of man.
This man didn’t piss away his time playing video games with his phone. Instead, he used it to create something never seen before. I laugh at the smartypants armchair critics who point out the negative. Criticism of this invention only points out that you are a failure in life. It’s easy to point out the obvious, What hard is creating something from nothing. What have you done in your life worthy of praise Mr. sunshine CUINSONG?
SgtB
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:30amWhile I admire this man’s engineering talent, this is not human powered flight. However, there are at least two other groups who have made flying machines that are powered solely by human muscle after they leave the ground and contain no electronic, batteries, or motors of any kind (except the ones in the human body). One looked like an ornithopter that flapped giant 32 meter wings and the other was a pedal powered device that spun a large pusher propeller.
Report Post »swaggy
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:59amNothing but bull cockaaa!!! Should have saved this for April 1st!!!
Report Post »4xeverything
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:50amI flew all the way from fill in the blank, and boy are my arms tired.
I had to.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:00amOMG CUINSONG got straight OWNED!
IVANK, nice job dismantling what has to be the most cynical and overly critical comment I have read all month long.
Report Post »PPMStudios
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:51am@ CUINSONG and SGTB
Perhaps you two should have read the article before commenting. No where in the story did it claim this was solely ‘human powered flight’.
Jeez, lighten up Francis!
Report Post »tradexpertbuysell
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 9:21amYes there were motors and batteries and light weight kite material. I could even agree with some that this is powered flight not man powered flight. But to take away from this man’s accomplishment you that accept that the kite material alone would give him the acolade he has earned by vision and hard work you would still argue to take away the kite material and man could not fly by himself you would also be right. But the points is the kite represents the bird’s wings, the computer the bird’s central nervous system, the batteries and motor the bird’s muscles, the heart and arms the man himself. He flew baby! HE FLEW! That’s as close as you will ever come and I say God bless him for succeeding!
Report Post »urrybr
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 11:04am@ CUINSONG, or should I say Eeyore!! The flapping was ASSISTED by motors!! Yeah, it looks dangerous, but so was flying at Mach3.32 in an SR-71, so was sitting on top of the Saturn V . . . the world’s biggest bomb, to be launched into space, toward the moon. So was landing a machine with a skin as thin as aluminum foil, on the moon. It’s all dangerous! So is living in the US, with O’bummer as our POTUS! So . . . what’s yer point Moon Doggy?
Report Post »chips1
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 11:56amCUINSONG:
Report Post »You just said that because your more equipt to do it, being a bird brain and all.
WatchingThePuppetShow
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 12:57pmIVANK My thoughts EXACTLY!
CUINSONG what have you created out of nothing in your life time other than the crap that comes out of your mouth and the other end of your body? The ignorance of people amazes me…and you CUINSONG have amazed me once again.
Report Post »TomFerrari
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:06pmAWESOME!!
INCREDIBLE!!
INSPIRATIONAL!!
Reminds me of my first solo flight. Talk about a rush!
That must be a heck of a pec workout !
I’ll take one. WAY TO GO !! And, no multi-billion dollar government program was needed. No 500,000,000.00 #FAIL obama SOLYNDRA scam either. This is what America was like. Until the PROGGERS started regressing us into serfdom.
Report Post »A_Few_Good_men
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 3:18pmfake
Report Post »Rodney777
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 6:27pmSo cool I would like to have one myself!
Report Post »SIXFRIGATES
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:12pmThat was so fake.. they blatantly used a technique to mask editing.. You see it in car commercials all the time, i.e. Toyota trucks..
LOL I can’t believe the Blaze is running this as a real story. Welcome to the new National Enquirer.
Report Post »PaxInVeritate
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 12:18amSIXFRIGATES… I concur. I was hoping it was “Bat Boy Lives” story from the 1979 National Enquirer now headlining “Bat Boy Experiencing Midlife Crisis; Terrorizes Small Netherlands Community Searching For His Mistress!”
Report Post »right-wing-waco
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:04pmObama’s next answer to the “oil crisis”. I expect that Obama will give the guy 500 million to make more of them, just before he goes bankrupt.
Report Post »lel2007
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:50pmI wonder how many were thinking – “the things you see when the shot gun’s at home ………”
Report Post »Dan
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:35amLmao
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:33pmSee, if this had been done by an America founded by the government, two million dollars, five years, and 300 EPA regulations and license later, it would have been a fantastic boodagle.
Report Post »fiveisenough
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:23pmI wonder if you could strap that to a pig….so when someone says… Ya,When pigs fly…..I’m not buying the technology, though..seems more battery power would be needed. JMO
Report Post »RugDog
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:17pmWow. Finally a bit of good news in the world!
Of course, strangely he’ll probably not wake up tomorrow morning before he can file for a patent.
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 2:25amHe better patent it soon before Al Gore claims he invented it!
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:59pmOf course this is being kept officially quiet! The Government needs to figure out how they can:
1. Censor it
2. Control it
3. Capitalize and Nationalize, and claim credit for it.
If it was created by private enterprize, and not a Government Program, it is not acceptable and will be either banned, controlled, or taxed out of existence.
Trust me on this…..
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:58pmIsn’t it strange people in other countries have the entrepreneurial spirit while back in the U.S. children are dumbed down by their schools and if they did invent something they would face lawsuits stifling the drive of invention.
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:03pmUh-oh….somebody else found out and KNOWS!
Uh-oh!
Report Post »miamisammy
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:04pmthe only thing “entreprenurial” about this fraud is that they may get a few moments of fame and a little film making experience making fictional movies. As an electrical engineer I can tell you for a fact that their so called “engineering” behind this is completely bogus.
Report Post »MAMMY_NUNN
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:24pmAt least they are striving to do something where our Governments telling you to shut up and eat your Government issued food.
Report Post »HTuttle
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 10:10pmBut US students are experts in Critical Race Theory.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:22am@ Htuttle
Report Post »Look — what matters is getting a COLLEGE DEGREE! Clearly a COLLEGE DEGREE in critical race theory, or art history is move significant than someone knowing how to weld or operate heavy machinery. Where have you been these last 3 years?
Doctor Nordo
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:09am@MIAMISAMI
Yes, well you’re an electrical engineer and the inventor is a mechanical engineer. I would absolutely put my faith in his expertise in assisted flight over your’s, just like I would trust your design for a power distribution grid or a process control system over his.
Btw, I’m an engineer too.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 8:03amTo clarify, I am not saying that this is necessarily real. I will hold out final judgement until we can get a more in-depth video or verification through reputable media. I’m just not willing to resoundingly cry “FAKE” when there is honestly not enough to go on.
To be honest, there were a couple of observations I made that made me suspect, namely it seemed that he gained quite a bit of lift in a short amount of distance and also that the wings didn’t look like they were under load. However, since I am not an expert in aerodynamics I reserve judgement until I hear from someone who is.
As an electrical engineer, I doubt you qualify as such.
Report Post »Shotgun167
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 12:06pmNot only that, miamisammy, as someone that is building a real airplane, the spar passes through the wrong place in the ribs. For a single spar, the areodynamic forces on rib portion in front of the spar needs to be approximately equal to that behind the spar. Don’t take care of that, and the rib will impart a wrenching torque around the spar. The have the spar going through the very tip of the balsa wood ribs. BALSA wood. How much torque would BALSA wood withstand.
But, it’s still a cool video.
Report Post »miamisammy
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:45pmClearly a fraud by a techno-ignoramus. He talks about electric motors as if they are power “sources” when he mentions “Lightweight motors that output 2000W aren’t hard to find.” Motors do NOT output power they consume power and generate mechanical motion. No where do we see the huge battery pack that would be required to run those motors. Birds can fly with reasonable size wings only because they are completely engineered in every respect for the lightest possible body weight. Even if you miraculously solved the battery issue, those wings would have to be massively larger to generate the lift required for an adult human when the only airflow over the wings is coming from the running and flapping action. Bogus in every possible way.
Report Post »miamisammy
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:00pmohhh and by the way, there is nothing in the photos even slightly resembling the electric motors he mentions. There’s just a backpack with some kind of bogus socket joints that are supposed to
Report Post »connect to the wings. No motors and no big battery packs.
Captain Crunch
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 1:52amAbsolutely incorrect. Motors will generate voltage and current. I used a DC motor that came off of one of the “Power Wheels” vehicles for children. Placed a drive wheel on the shaft, secured it against a bicycle wheel and was able to generate enough DC electricity to keep a battery charged which was powering a light. Other types of motors will also generate electricity. Get your facts straight.
Report Post »Doctor Nordo
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 7:19amMotors and generators are really one and the same thing in most cases. The only difference is what is being inputted vs what is being outputted. If you take a motor and use an external force to spin the rotor it produces a voltage and a current on the electrical end. Motors and generators are both nothing more than a rotor/stator interface between mechanical and electrical systems. Directionality is the only thing distinguishing them.
Report Post »bertr
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 3:57pmin your extensive research to debunk this man, you seemed to have failed to go to his own website http://humanbirdwings.com/
there you will find details, pictures and videos of the interworking and assembly of his device. As far as his terminology, you should include references in german to all such terms and check the translation from what he is actually saying since he’s not speaking english.
In the future you should check your sources and facts before you post to debunk someone.
Report Post »bertr
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 3:59pmhttp://www.humanbirdwings.net/research/using-wii-controllers/
Report Post »McNamara
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:40pmSkeet shooting just got more interesting..
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:06pmCould be ….might be applied to the surplus population as it were…..
Report Post »TwoMinuteMan
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:37pmToo infinity and beyond……….
Report Post »village idiot
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:19pmIF this is real, give this guy the Nobel Prize for Science.
Report Post »I am 'We the People
Posted on March 21, 2012 at 5:07amNo, can’t do that, ’cause he actually invented something, you must receive the nobel prize for doing nothing these days.
/sarcasm off
Report Post »Itsjusttim
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:17pmGeez, America and Europe is going to so fall to Islam, you’re a bunch of stupid children.
Report Post »Onowicit
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:21pma little levity levitates the whole lump. lighten up lumpy.
Report Post »Onowicit
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:17pmimagine the crap this thing will leave on your windshield.
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:55pmLmao!
Report Post »Fireguarding
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 11:07pmGonna have to beef up the wipers…
Report Post »Onowicit
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:14pmShoot it!
Report Post »WAR PIGS CRAWLING
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:27pmHope he stays away from the Broxton Bridge Plantation, SC…………..remember……where the animal rights drone was shot down………anyway…….he best stay away…..
Report Post »Onowicit
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:34pmDang right! war pigs. that was a great story. These days you can never be to sure about weird stuff flying over.
Report Post »thedweh
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:12pmi hope the writer of this story wasn’t serious, the videos are animations, this thing isn’t real.
Report Post »Buck_PKA
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:09pmI hate to burst everyone’s bubble here, but this is fake, much like the shoes that could make you walk on water:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oe3St1GgoHQ
From 0:25-0:30, the lighting on the wings and movements look very computer animated, and from 0:35 when the side camera shoes him in flight, the movements are very jerky and unrealistic and again look computer animated. To top it all off, when in ‘flight’ the image of the man is slightly blurred out to again, in my opinion, reduce the computer animated effect.
I wish this was real though!
Report Post »Buck_PKA
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:12pmedit: shows, not shoes
Report Post »itsme123
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:04pmAwww. I want to do that! Much jealousy.
Thanks for showing it!
Laurie
Report Post »woodge
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:03pmFakest thing I’ve ever seen.
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:01pmYou missted Joe Biden’s hairpiece.
Report Post »Reaganite71
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 8:02pmThat is amazing. I want one! (I bet DoD does too!)
Report Post »fishmagnet
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:55pmIt just proves libs are idiots and it‘s O’bama’s fault! And there is no global warming and abortion has to stop and we are losing our rights and they’re going to take our guns away and…….
Report Post »bigmel754
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:54pmWill look forward to seeing him on tv, Americas Funniest Home Videos!
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:52pmVery Good… bird imitation!
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:11pmYou missed the Democtratic National Committee….They do an excellent ostrich impersonation, sticking their heads in the sand……
Report Post »mcmeador
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 7:52pmOh my goodness…when will this be available for purchase?!?
Report Post »Skrewedretiree
Posted on March 20, 2012 at 9:04pmI can see it all now….”New, from K-Tell!”
Report Post »