Abstract
MEN have always wanted to fly by their own power, like birds. But man is five times heavier than the heaviest flying creature of this or any other epoch. This creates difficulties; for as birds increase in size, their wing area diminishes in relation to their weight, since geometrical configuration and density remain roughly the same. This effect can only be countered by a greater expenditure of mechanical power by the larger specimens. In fact, the power required for level flight increases as (weight)1.167 (Nonweiler, 1957, private communication).
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References
Brody, S., “Bioenergetics and Growth” (Reinhold, New York, 1945).
Dill, D. B., Edwards, H. T., and Talbot, J. H., J. Physiol., 77, 49 (1932).
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Nonweiler, T., J. Roy. Aeronaut. Soc., 62, 723 (1958).
Günther, B., and Guerra, E., Acta Physiologica Latinoamericana, 7, 95 (1957).
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WILKIE, D. The Work Output of Animals: Flight by Birds and by Man-power. Nature 183, 1515–1516 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/1831515a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/1831515a0
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