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by Todd Reichert
One of the first blog posts I wrote was back in October 2005, under Camera Lucida. I filed it under science, although it was about the artist (now we consider him more of an artist than a scientist) Leonardo Da Vinci. It was titled Leonardo's Flying Machine, and describes a contemporary scientist's attempt to rebuild one of Leonardo's flying machines. What this 21st century designer attempted was more glider than a plane.
Todd Reichert, a PhD student for the University of Toronto, has recently managed to build another Leonardo machine. This time, it is a human powered flying machine, and actually flies rather than glides. Reichert sits in the cockpit of the small plane (with expansive wings) and pedals the machine up and into the sky.
You can watch the short video (Reichert managed to stay airborne for 19 seconds) here - just scroll down to the "video".
For some reason, each time I see these scientific reports about flying machines, I think of the movie Those Magnificent Men and their Flying Machines (Or How I Flew From London To Paris In 25 Hours 11 Minutes), with the playful lyrics (of which I know only the first three lines):
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
They Go Up, Tiddly, Up, Up.
They Go Down, Tiddly, Down, Down.
They Enchant All The Ladies And Steal All The Scenes
With their Up, Tiddly, Up, Up
And They're Down, Tiddly, Down, Down.
Up! Down! Flying Around.
Looping The Loop And Defying The Ground.
They're All, Frightfully Keen
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
They Can Fly Upside Down With Their Feet In The Air.
They Don't Think Of Danger. They Really Don't Care.
Newton Would Think He Had Made A Mistake.
To See Those Young Men And The Chances They Take.
Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines.
They Go Up, Tiddly, Up, Up.
They Go Down, Tiddly, Down, Down.
They Enchant All The Ladies And Steal All The Scenes
With their Up, Tiddly, Up, Up
And Their Down, Tiddly, Down, Down.
Up! Down! Flying Around.
Looping The Loop And Defying The Ground.
They're All, Frightfully Keen