The Ornithopter Zone grew out of a much earlier effort to bring together flapping-wing enthusiasts around the world. In 1983, Patrick Deshaye was tinkering with ornithopters and trying to locate other people with similar interests. It was very hard to find any information on how to build ornithopters, and there was little awareness of what had been accomplished so far.

Deshaye managed to contact seven people in the US and Britain who shared his passion for flapping-wing flight. He began publishing a newsletter, and this group became the Ornithopter Modelers' Society. The society soon had over 100 members. The Flapper Facts newsletter chronicled the rapid development of indoor competition ornithopters, and it served as a forum for ideas about engine-powered ornithopters. At first it seemed that none had flown yet, successfully.

In 1991, Nathan Chronister took over as editor of the newsletter in order to continue its mission of keeping people connected and pulling together the scattered and hard-to-find information in our field. Chronister recognized that the internet could vastly accelerate the Ornithopter Society's mission. In 1996, he established an early web site about ornithopters, which gradually developed into the present Ornithopter Zone web site.

Chronister continues to raise awareness about flapping-wing flight while carrying out his own innovative research. He originated the scissor-wing biplane mechanism used in many of today's micro air vehicle ornithopters and the toy dragonflies. He developed and patented a unique steering system for ornithopter toys, which avoids the need for servos or actuators. Current research includes intelligent flight control systems, flapping-wing aerobatics, and improved efficiency for longer range flying of unmanned ornithopters.

Nathan Chronister has provided ornithopter demonstrations, lectures, and workshops for the Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur, Rochester Museum and Science Center, and Science Teachers Association of New York State, as well as schools, libraries, and community groups in the Rochester, New York, area. He has provided consulting services for toy companies and for micro air vehicle researchers at Rochester Institute of Technology and Georgia Tech. Teamed with Hot Buttered Elves, he developed four custom ornithopter prototypes for the TV program American Inventor, helping finalist Ricky DeRennaux advance his folded-paper toy concept.