If you've built an ornithopter of your own design, even if you used parts from a commercial product, your ornithopter could be featured on this page! Simply e-mail your photos and information using the link at the bottom of the left side menu. Some images have hi-res versions. Click on the image to find out!

Black Bird  August 2006

Hessam Maleki built this electric, radio-controlled ornithopter. It has a 134 cm wingspan, weighs 570 grams, and has a brushless motor with 1650 mah, 2 cell lithium polymer battery. The V-tail gives it good maneuverability.

Very Small Biplane Ornithopter  March 2006

Chris Doughty's micro biplane canard ornithopter called the Mosquito has a flapper span of 2". The weight of the model, less the rubber band, is a mere 0.086 grams. This model flies very well around the living room for around 15 seconds a flight. Construction is indoor grade balsa wood, .005 music wire, .004 Boron fiber (for the canard), and UltraFilm covering. The mechanism has separate connecting rods for each of the four wings!

Luna with IR control  December 2005

Yusuke Takahashi built a remarkable remote-controlled ornithopter based on The Ornithopter Zone's Luna kit. The ornithopter uses a 0.4 gram infrared receiver desgined by Koichi Tanaka. In contrast to the flat tail of the standard Luna, Takahashi's version has separate rudder and elevator surfaces with magnetic actuators. The ornithopter also has throttle control. As you'll see in the video, Takahashi's ornithopter can take off by itself. It can fly rapidly or almost hover.

Wingspan: 35 cm (14 inches)
Weight: 13 grams (0.4 ounces) with battery
Motor: Super Slick Orange
Gear Ratio: 33:1
Battery: 70mAh Li-poly
Flight time: 10 minutes

Vladimir Kumanin  March 2005

Vladimir Kumanin is a national model aviation record holder in Russia. He has also gotten some good flights from his radio controlled ornithopters. Kumanin uses a three dimensional wing structure covered with mylar plastic film. He has been working in the field of aviation for many years, and now retired, he aims to build a manned ornithopter.

Lego Ornithopter  February 2005
 
Ed Hoecher's Lego ornithopter wasn't intended to fly, but it demonstrates how ornithopters can convert the rotating motion of a rubber band or electric motor into up and down movement of the wings. Lego can also be used for devices that imitate the swimming or walking motion of animals. Free of the requirement for a high power to weight ratio, such devices can be fully operable. Building with Lego is much faster and easier than other construction methods.

Step-Twister  October 2003

The Step-Twister bird was constructed by Karel Pustka. He says the stepped design allows a stiffer wing, which is good for gliding. Here are some values: span 1160 mm, weight 420 g, motor Lehner 1015/20 with flywheel 0.5 gcm^2, gear 89:1, battery 2 cell kokam 1500, TMM 18e+ controller, electronic locking system with 3 hall position sensors and PIC-processor, wing made from 3mm depron with carbon rods in leading and trailing edges. It flies about 17 minutes. The ornithopter now has simple roll control by holding the wing tips in up position with 2 threads and 1 servo in fuselage, not yet tested because of bad weather. Pustka writes "Another special model is my Holst-bird, mechanics with active twisting according Prof. Dr. Erich von Holst." (video and player)

Phenix  Septembert 2003
 
Robert Korobelnik's ornithopter Phenix was based on an earlier biplane design by Sean Kinkade. It has two bodies and four wings! According to its builder, the Phenix has excellent flight performance over a wide speed range and glides well. On 29 March 2004, it won the French Challenge cup Ornithopter of Aéro-Modelisme's French Union. The four wings are driven by a single Brushless NPM 2432-14 motor geared 97.7:1. Flapping of the upper and lower wings is synchronous but not in phase. The ornithopter uses a 1500 mAh, 3 cell LiPoly battery and can fly for up to 25 minutes! The weight is 560 grams and the wingspan is 1.2 meters. It has three channel radio control using the original Park Hawk tail movements. (video)

Cui-Cui  August 2003
 
Jean Claude Pesce sent these pictures and video of a little ornithopter named Cui-Cui. He began construction in April 2003 and the ornithopter first flew in August 2003. It was awarded the European MAV trophy in Toulouse, October 2003. Plan and building instructions have been published in the modeler magazine RCM, issue 272, December 2003, and issue 273, January 2004. Wing span is 51 cm, weight 45 grams, flight time 10 minutes with 2 cell 145 mah LiPoly battery. Controls are throttle, elevator, and rudder on V-tail. Pesce is a technician for Alcatel network division.

Songgolmae

Dr. Jo-Won Chang, Republic of Korea, has developed an an efficient RC ornithopter named Songgolmae (peregrine falcon). It has a wingspan of 88cm, weighs 277 grams, and has 3 channels radio control (throttle, elevator, rudder). It runs on an electric motor by a 1,000 mAh lithium polymer battery and has a gear ratio of about 85 to 1. Flight times have exceeded 23 minutes (video). Songggolmae first flew in April 2003. Jo-Won Chang is currently an assistant professor in the department of aeronautical science and flight operation at the Hankook Aviation University in Korea.

Silver Bat  March 2003
 
K Nandakumar of Chennai, India, has developed a remote controlled ornithopter of original design, believed the first in India. The Silver Bat has a 132 cm wingspan and weighs 438 grams. It has throttle, rudder, and elevator controls and flies up to 4 minutes with a 600 mah, 7.2 volt NiCad battery. Nandakumar, a 35 year old naval electronics technician, even designed and built the radio and speed control for the ornithopter. Over two years, he experimented with ten different wing designs and many different motor and gearbox combinations. He designed his own gearbox and had the parts machined. He used a stock motor but rewound the coils to make it more powerful. Nandakumar settled on a diagonally braced mylar wing with battens in the outer portion. The wing root is cambered and the wing has one cambered rib.

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