DICKSON *, W.B.; DICKINSON , M.H.; California Institute of Technology; California Institue of Technology: Quantifying the effect of advance ratio on aerodynamic force generation during forward flight. Recent studies have demonstrated that a quasi-steady model closely matches the instantaneous force produced by an insect wing during hovering flight. It is not clear, however, if such […]

HEDRICK, TL; Harvard University, Cambridge MA: Low-speed maneuvering flight in the rose-breasted cockatoo Maneuvering flight has long been recognized as an important component of the natural behavior of many bird species but has been the subject of little experimental work. Here I examine the kinematics and neuromuscular control of turning flight in the Rose-breasted cockatoo […]

WALKER, J.A.; University of Southern Maine: How flies fly fast The fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, can potentially increase flight speed by modulating wing beat frequency, the magnitude of wing displacement, the angle of the (stroke) plane along which the wing oscillates, the angle (or pitch) of a wing section relative to its flight trajectory, and […]

CLARK, Christopher J.; TOBALSKE, Bret; POWERS, Don; Univ. of California, Berkeley; University of Portland; John Fox University: Forward flight kinematics of rufus hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) with and without their tails Birds use their tails to generate aerodynamic forces. Recent theoretical work has begun to identify potential uses of these forces. In forward flight, there are […]

FERNANDEZ, M.J*; BOZINOVIC, F.B; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile; Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile: Flight efficiency and energetic costs along an altitudinal gradient in the world’s largest hummingbird: Patagona gigas Patagona gigas is an outlier in the body size distribution of the approximately 330 species of hummingbirds, weighing twice as much as the second largest […]

ALTSHULER, Douglas L.; DICKINSON, Michael H.; California Institute of Technology; California Institute of Technology: Detailed kinematics of hovering flight in hummingbirds Although hovering flight is common among insects, hummingbirds are the only vertebrate group that perform sustained hovering. Hummingbirds are larger than most insects, operate at higher Re numbers, and thus experience the air as […]

HORISAWA, S.; BYRNES, G.T.; DUDLEY, R.; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley; Univ. of California, Berkeley: Characterization of Erratic Flight Trajectories in Free-Flying Butterflies Palatability of butterflies is correlated with flight speed, flight trajectory, maneuverability, body shape, wing aspect ratio, and the position of center of body mass. Relative to unpalatable butterflies, palatable […]

USHERWOOD, J.R.; HEDRICK, T.L.; BIEWENER, A.A.; Harvard University: Aerodynamics of flapping bird wings: insights from direct pressure measurements. Vertebrates power flight with flapping wings of complex and changing geometries. The aerodynamics of such dynamic aerofoils remains obscure. While a fixed-wing view of aerodynamics is likely to be appropriate for gliding and soaring flight, flapping flight […]

COMBES, S.A.*; LONGNION, J.K.; DANIEL, T.L.; Univ. of Washington, Seattle; Univ. of Washington, Seattle; Univ. of Washington, Seattle: Abdominal flexion and maneuvering flight in hawkmoths Maneuvering flight involves a number of control surfaces, including the wings, head, legs, and abdomen. For example, many insects display strong abdominal flexion during flight, associated with corrective steering behavior, […]

TOBALSKE, B.*; CLARK, C.; POWERS, D.; HYDER, G.; WARRICK, D.; HEDRICK, T.; BIEWENER, A.; Univ. of Portland, OR; Univ. of California, Berkeley; George Fox Univ., OR; Univ. of Portland, OR; Univ. of Portland, OR; Harvard Univ., MA; Harvard Univ., MA; : 3D kinematics and neuromuscular activity during hummingbird flight over a range of speeds. Hummingbirds […]