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Article: Researchers Ape Nature With Flapping-Wing Aircraft; Versatile Ornithopters Hold Promise for Space or Military Missions
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- September 1, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
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"Mentor" looked like a cross between a dragonfly and a Chinese
lantern as it soared toward the ceiling of a Toronto research center,
its wings flapping furiously. Below, a bespectacled young man
gingerly worked the joystick on a remote control. Mentor started
hovering in place, and suddenly the sound of flapping was drowned by
thunderous applause.
Mentor's maiden flight last spring marked a milestone in the age-
old quest to build ornithopters -- aircraft propelled by flapping
wings. Developed by the University of Toronto's Institute for
Aerospace Studies and SRI International, a nonprofit research and
development corporation in Menlo Park, Calif., Mentor is the world's
first hovering ...