
Getting Started
You've always
watched with fascination as birds fly. Now you've discovered these
machines that capture that same beautiful and magnificent method
of flight. How about now building your own and watching your creation
take flight? No need to worry about finding cheap
airfare or remembering what to pack either! This is flight
at its simplest and purest. It's only a matter of time before you'll
need to feel the excitement of building your own ornithopter and
watching it climb into the sky.
To improve your
chances of success, it's best if you start with a proven design
before beginning your own experiments. This page describes some
of the different options, to help you get started.
Rubber-Band-Powered
Ornithopters
The
least expensive way to get started in this new hobby is with a simple,
rubber-band-powered ornithopter. These little birds are "free
flight", meaning without radio control. You can buy a ready-made
toy that flies fairly well, or you can build your own ornithopter
from a kit. The
light balsa wood construction of these models gives them much better
performance.
You might be
tempted to try the free plans on this web site. I must caution you,
however. The plans are recommended only if you have a lot of experience
building rubber-powered airplanes.Your chances of success are much
better if you start with a kit. The special parts in the kit, and
critical steps already done for you, make it much easier to build.
Also, building a model from "free" plans will end up costing
you more money by the time you get all the materials together.
The Phoenix, shown
here, is a typical rubber-powered ornithopter that you can build from
a kit. I developed these kits to make it easier for people to get
started in the hobby of building ornithopters. You can find these
in the online store.
Radio-Controlled
Ornithopters
Radio-controlled
(RC) ornithopters are far more complex than the rubber-band-powered
variety. However, you can buy an RC ornithopter already assembled.
Because of this, RC ornithopters are also viable as a first step
into the world of flapping flight.
RC
ornithopters fall into two categories: the ready-made toys, and
the more complex, hobby-grade ornithopters. Toy RC ornithopters
cost about $50. They come with everything you need, and they don't
require any assembly. Typically, the RC transmitter has a built-in
charger for charging the onboard battery.
Hobby-grade
RC ornithopters offer larger size and more features. They use the
same RC components found in RC planes. This means you can select
your own radio receiver, servos, and batteries, to customize your
bird. Often these ornithopters come fully assembled except for the
installation of the radio components. Expect to pay at least $200
for a hobby-grade RC ornithopter and all the required accessories.
If you already have a good collection of RC equipment, you can get
started for less money.
Most RC ornithopters
are powered by an electric motor. This gives them plenty of power,
and it makes them much quieter and more convenient than the early
internal-combustion-powered ornithopters. Presently, most RC ornithopters
use lithium-polymer rechargeable batteries. These batteries have
a higher power-to-weight ratio than older battery types -- but they
can store only 1/75 as much energy as the fat that birds use to
power their flight muscles!
Flying an RC
ornithopter is fairly easy. The controls are just like an RC plane.
A throttle stick controls the flapping rate. Flapping the wings
faster makes the ornithopter climb higher. Decreased throttle causes
the ornithopter to come down.
Most RC ornithopters have a birdlike, fan-shaped tail, for steering.
The tail tilts left and right to make turns. In the more complex,
three-channel models, the tail may also move up and down, like the
elevator of an RC plane.
As with any
RC aircraft, it takes a certain amount of practice. You have to
learn not to oversteer, and you must teach yourself how to respond
when the model is coming toward you. Beginning pilots have a tendency
to steer the wrong way when the ornithopter is facing them. This
makes the ornithopter turn too sharply, and then it crashes. If
you imagine yourself facing in the same direction as the ornithopter,
it will be easier to make the correct control inputs and keep your
bird in the air!
If you have
any trouble getting your ornithopter to fly correctly, it can probably
be fixed with a simple adjustment. With the exception of some cheap
imitations on the market, these are proven designs that definitely
will fly when set up correctly. Each ornithopter comes with instructions
on how to achieve the correct flight performance.
Once you've
gotten started with a radio-controlled or free-flight ornithopter,
you can begin some simple experiments to
help you learn more about how these machines operate.
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