Students and individual hobbyists can do some really interesting experiments with flapping-wing flight. Here are some ideas to help you choose a worthwhile topic for your science fair or your own personal investigations.

The wings and body were lengthened to make this ornithopter. It has a 30-inch wingspan, and it needs a thick rubber band to flap the huge wings!		Ornithopters at two different scales. Both ornithopters fly nicely.

Scale Effects: What limits the size of a flapping-wing aircraft? Build ornithopters at different scales and see how they differ in performance. If you double the size of the ornithopter, scaling up everything exactly, how does that affect the weight and the amount of power needed for flight? When you double the size of the rubber band, how much torque do you get?

Microcontrollers: Many students are using microcontrollers like the Basic Stamp or Lego Mindstorms to build their own programmable robots. These systems could also be used to build an ornithopter of sorts. You probably won't be building an ornithopter that actually flies -- the servos aren't powerful enough -- but you can experiment with advanced capabilities not found in current ornithopters: maybe wing-folding or perching like real birds.

Bird Control: Flocks of birds are a hazard at airports, sometimes causing planes to crash. Build a radio-controlled ornithopter that looks like a peregrine falcon. See if you can use it to chase away flocks of geese or seagulls that may appear at your local park. Do a scientific study to find out whether the effect diminishes over time.