Simple Mechanisms Help Explain Insect Hovering
DEC 01, 2000
Experimental models and two‐dimensional computer simulations of insect hovering provide insight that is missing in steady‐state analysis.
DOI: 10.1063/1.1341910
The flapping motion of insect wings is qualitatively different from fixed airplane wings or even the rotation of helicopter blades. It’s perhaps not surprising, then, that the quasi‐steady‐state analysis that works so well for aircraft predict for insects an amount of lift that’s insufficient to keep them in the air.
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More about the Authors
Richard J. Fitzgerald. rfitzger@aip.org
© 2000 American Institute of Physics
