Random Biology questions

[shunyadragon]

Hmm, would we have ever invented airplanes if there hadn't been birds flying overhead?

I do not think this hypothetical works in a discussion. It is simply a fact that the early designers of wings for aircraft used birds wings to study flight.

The aerodynamics and flight of insects is actually different than for birds, actually not researched in detail until more recently to understand the aerodynamics of flight from the insects perspective.

[Jedidiah]

Hmm, would we have ever invented airplanes if there hadn't been birds flying overhead?

I think kites alone would lead to airplanes, and kites are not at all hard to invent. Kites are almost a given in the physical world.

[shunyadragon]

It is possible that the aerodynamic air foil would be developed by trial and error without birds. Many airplane designs failed, before the bird wing design lead to the success airplane, and by the way the propeller.

Kite designs had marginal success for glided fight, but useless for powered flight without a propeller designed based on the bird's wing.

[TheLurch]

[QUOTE=shunyadragon;493343Kite designs had marginal success for glided fight, but useless for powered flight without a propeller designed based on the bird's wing.[/QUOTE]
Actually, the propeller design was inspired by boat propeller designs, refined through wind tunnel testing:

http://wrightstories.com/propeller-d...ight-brothers/

Be careful, it's long, so you may find it difficult to comprehend.