Ornithopter Wings

[0111narwhalz]

After rereading Frank Herbert's Dune series, I have become somewhat obsessed with ornithopters. In case you didn't know, ornithopters are vehicles which are propelled by flapping wings, like a bird or an insect. I imagine such a device could be created using snjo's Firespitter plugin (specifically the VTOL engine functionality) and a clever animation. We've seen helicopter engines which transition into wings, courtesy of D12 Aerotech from PolecatEZ. We've seen engines which vector thust from vertical to horizontal, in both Firespitter and B9. But, we've not seen a winged example (unless, of course, we have, in which case, please reply with a link).

And no, I'm not satisfied with horrific abominations derived from robotics. I tried to create one myself, but it failed to produce thrust.

[Tex_NL]

I too still hope this will be done some day. Orni wings get suggested/requested from time to time. I myself did so too a few years ago but they were found to be 'unrealistic' and nobody picked it up.

But wait ... Ornithopter wings unrealistic? NERVA and SABRE engines and fusion power only work on paper. Warp drive is still only possible in science fiction. And they are either stock or modded. Ornithopters actually DO WORK in real life. And when you scale it down to model plane size they perform even better.

[Shad0wCatcher]

Didn't NERVAs have actual run tests done back in the 50s and 60s before the non-proliferation treaty was signed? Off topic for sure; but food for thought. I too wouldn't mind seeing ornithopters (even scaled down) as probe propulsion.