# It's a bird, it's a plane it's...a flying man? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 21, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439 "2012-03-21T20:37:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/21 "2012-03-22T13:10:28Z")
> [@Darth\_Ayebaw](#): > > What type of materials would it take to put human powered flight not too far outside of the realm of the bicycle? Mass produced spider silk / carbon nanotubes? Would anything light enough to be feasible be unpractical being too weak to survive a light gust? That one with the 100ft wingspan is impressive, but it seems expensive, in addition to unsustainable flight, and being too wide to take off with practically. Human powered flight will never be feasible. Those that have achieved it have done so in perfect conditions. No wind, low humidity and low temperature. They take alot of room to get off the ground and don’t have the ability to get out of ground effect. So, unless you can find a need to pedal furiously to travel slowly close to the ground and only under perfect conditions, there’s no advantages to human powered flight. A bicycle will get you there much quicker and much more reliably. Unless, of course, you wanted to pedal across the english channel - then your human powered plane would have a distinct advantage. ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/22 "2012-03-22T14:44:39Z")
Oh. My. God. That video looks so ridiculously fake, silly and awkward I can’t believe anyone would have any question about it. Do people really believe the awkward and feeble physical motion this video portrays could possibly be effective at anything , especially lifting a man off the ground and propelling him? **Anyone who believes this needs to exercise more.** ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/23 "2012-03-22T14:59:02Z")
“The wings are connected to a mechanized motor powered by an Android smartphone and two Nintendo Wii controllers.” I guess its possible they mean “controlled” rather than powered. But powered? Uh, hell no. And just based upon impressions those wings don’t look to be nearly flapping hard enough, battery powered or human powered. Though it is possible he is taking off into a very strong headwind. That could get you airborne for a short time and smart editing might make it look like the wings are doing the work and not the wind. And why are they rushing around on the video? ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/24 "2012-03-22T15:40:59Z")
[QUOTE=Darth Ayebaw] What type of materials would it take to put human powered flight not too far outside of the realm of the bicycle? Mass produced spider silk / carbon nanotubes? Would anything light enough to be feasible be unpractical being too weak to survive a light gust? That one with the 100ft wingspan is impressive, but it seems expensive, in addition to unsustainable flight, and being too wide to take off with practically. [/QUOTE] Build a huge, enclosed and pressurized dome on the Moon. IIRC, human wing powered flight would be possible there using materials available today (of course, you’d have to figure out how to get to the Moon and build a huge, enclosed and pressurized dome there first which might be quite a trick). -XT ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/25 "2012-03-22T17:20:48Z")
> [@Darth\_Ayebaw](#): > > What type of materials would it take to put human powered flight not too far outside of the realm of the bicycle? Mass produced spider silk / carbon nanotubes? Would anything light enough to be feasible be unpractical being too weak to survive a light gust? That one with the 100ft wingspan is impressive, but it seems expensive, in addition to unsustainable flight, and being too wide to take off with practically. If you think about it, human arm powered flight cannot ever be _easier_ than doing chin-ups - because thats what it is - lifting yourself upwards using your arms. In practice, its always going to be very much harder than that - because you’re not acting against a solidly mounted bar, you’re waving floppy, heavy panels through a gas. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/26 "2012-03-22T17:42:12Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Build a huge, enclosed and pressurized dome on the Moon. IIRC, human wing powered flight would be possible there using materials available today (of course, you’d have to figure out how to get to the Moon and build a huge, enclosed and pressurized dome there first which might be quite a trick). > > -XT Good R. A. Heinlein short story about just that. “The Menace from Earth.” > **[The Menace from Earth](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth)** > > "The Menace From Earth" is a science fiction short story by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, first published in the August 1957 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. > The story is set in the near future, when the Moon is colonized with people living in underground cities. The "menace" of the title is a glamorous woman tourist who visits the Moon colony. She is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15-year-old girl and aspiring starship designer who is the first-person narrator... ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/27 "2012-03-22T17:47:27Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If you think about it, human arm powered flight cannot ever be _easier_ than doing chin-ups - because thats what it is - lifting yourself upwards using your arms. Not necessarily true. If the flapping action is used to propel the vehicle forward, then the wings themselves can be used to provide ordinary aerodynamic lift; the operator’s arms need not bear the lifting load. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/28 "2012-03-22T19:25:37Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Not necessarily true. If the flapping action is used to propel the vehicle forward, then the wings themselves can be used to provide ordinary aerodynamic lift; the operator’s arms need not bear the lifting load. “Ordinary aerodynamic lift” is still just as hard (y’know, rounding it off), as you’re still required to provide enough energy to push 150 lbs of air toward the ground. You can do that by pushing the air directly down to the ground (i.e. flapping) or pushing/pulling an inclined plane through the air, but still, it’s a lot of work. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/29 "2012-03-22T20:13:24Z")
I think that’s right. I dont think a plane can gain height in air faster than it could theoretically be winched up using the same engine. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/30 "2012-03-22T20:21:18Z")
> [@FluffyBob](#): > > **Anyone who believes this needs to exercise more.** My boss was fooled. _sigh_ The guy has to be really really smart, but he doesn’t act it sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/31 "2012-03-22T20:25:24Z")
> [@Chessic\_Sense](#): > > “Ordinary aerodynamic lift” is still just as hard (y’know, rounding it off), as you’re still required to provide enough energy to push 150 lbs of air toward the ground. You can do that by pushing the air directly down to the ground (i.e. flapping) or pushing/pulling an inclined plane through the air, but still, it’s a lot of work. Hardly. A 747-8 weighing in at nearly a million pounds can sustain level flight at its minimum-drag speed with engine thrust equal to a small fraction of that. Just so we’re clear, though I do think the flying-man video is bullshit. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/32 "2012-03-22T22:07:21Z")
Can’t believe I’m the first to post this, but it’s now an admitted fake: > **['Bird Man' Hoaxster Comes Clean on Dutch Television](https://www.wired.com/2012/03/birdman-admits-hoax/)** > > The man who claimed to achieve bird-like flight with a custom-built contraption came clean today: It was a hoax 8 months in the making. "Jarno Smeets" of the Human Birdwings project is really Floris Kaayk, a Dutch artist. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/33 "2012-03-22T23:40:28Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > Hardly. A 747-8 weighing in at nearly a million pounds can sustain level flight at its minimum-drag speed with engine thrust equal to a small fraction of that. If you want a flying machine to climb at a speed of, say, 5 metres per second, can this be achieved using an engine that, even with the appropriate (and we’ll say lossless, frictionless) gearing, _ **could not** _ winch the flying machine up a cable at 5 metres per second? If this is possible, then additional work is being done somewhere when the plane flies, but where? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439/34 "2012-03-23T07:23:50Z")
Afterthought to the above: add the word ‘sustained’ in there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-a-bird-its-a-plane-its-a-flying-man/616439.md?page=1)