A Canadian student inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s centuries-old sketches of an ornithopter said last week he was the first to make a sustained flight in a human-powered, wing-flapping aircraft.
Powered and piloted by engineering student Todd Reichert, the craft, dubbed Snowbird, flew 145m in 19.3 seconds, traveling at an average speed of 25.6kph.
“The Snowbird represents the completion of an age-old aeronautical dream,” Reichert said in a statement through the University of Toronto.
“Throughout history, countless men and women have dreamt of flying like a bird under their own power, and hundreds, if not thousands have attempted to achieve it. This represents one of the last of the aviation firsts.”
The feat was accomplished on Aug. 2 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario, north of Toronto.
The Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the world-governing body for air sports and aeronautical world records, is expected to confirm the ornithopter’s world record at its next meeting in October.
The Italian painter and genius Da Vinci designed a variety of mechanical devices which were far ahead of their time, and his famous sketches of the ornithopter are believed to have been drawn around 1485.
Reichert noted that the Snowbird “is not a practical method of transport.” Rather, the aim of the project was to inspire others “to use the strength of their body and the creativity of their mind.”(AFP)
一位加拿大學生受到發明家達文西撲翼飛行器草圖影響,上週表示自己是世上第一位以人力驅動一台撲翼飛機升空飛行的人。
這架綽號為「雪鳥」的飛機是由工程學系學生陶德•雷撤特所駕駛,在十九點三秒鐘內,飛行了一百四十五公尺的距離,平均速度為二十五點六公里。
雷撤特透過多倫多大學的一份聲明表示,「雪鳥代表的是個古代的航空夢。」
「歷史上有無數男女曾經夢想以自己的力量,像鳥一般飛翔。而千百人嘗試達成目的。這代表人類以這種方法嘗試飛行的最新嘗試。」
該創舉八月二日,於多倫多北部,安大略省托特納姆的大湖滑翔俱樂部完成。
主管全球航空運動與記載世界航空紀錄的國際航空聯盟,將於十月份的會議,確認撲翼機所打破的世界紀錄。
身兼畫家與天才的義大利人達文西,設計了超越當代科技的一系列機械裝置,人們相信撲翼機插圖約於一四八五年所畫。
雷撤特強調雪鳥「並不是個方便的交通工具」。這項計畫的目的,主要是啟發他人「使用自己身體的力量與創造力」。
(法新社�翻譯:吳岱璟)
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