Human Bird Wings: Is It Real or Fake?

[slider142]

This video is very popular at the moment: http://m.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/human-bird-wings/ .
While there are arguments stating that it is possible: http://gizmodo.com/5894904/man-flies-like-a-bird-flapping-his-own-wings , there are also some strange visual problems with the videos: http://gizmodo.com/5895235/cgi-experts-say-flying-bird-man-is-fake .

 

[russ_watters]

From your second link:

.,,I think the animation cycle on the figure is borrowed from the monkeys in Wizard of Oz."

That was my first thought at seeing the video - and it's been a long time since I've seen that movie!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

From your second link: That was my first thought at seeing the video - and it's been a long time since I've seen that movie!

Which brings to mind an interesting point. While human-powered flight isn't practical due to our strength limitations, flying monkeys are probably doable.

 

[DennisN]

I heard about this video in a mail from a friend of mine, so I did some checking and found this:

Analysis of the Human Birdwings: (some video and physics analysis)
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/analysis-of-the-human-birdwings/

Bird-Man’s Resume Doesn’t Check Out: ‘Nobody Knows Him’:
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/human-bird-wings-hoax/

 

[zoobyshoe]

While human-powered flight isn't practical due to our strength limitations...

There's been human powered flight:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There's been human powered flight:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gossamer_Albatross

I didn't say impossible, I said impractical. The rider had to generate something like 400 watts continuous, which is beyond most people's ability for all but a very short time - less than a minute. The guy who did that had to train for a very long time.

However the idea of flapping wings with the arms to achieve flight is probably impossible for a human; at least for more than a few feet in altitude and a very short flight.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Watching that video, my guess would be that the very beginning and end of the clip - the parts that include the second frame - is actually the entire flight. He may have gotten a few feet of air but I think that's it.

 

[lostcauses10x]

A bird uses a tail for control. No control of this thing is why I go with fake. The Configuration does not fit a hang glider and its control either.

Things don't fit.

 

[Evo]

Experts lean toward it being a fake.

Coker thinks the footage is fake. This isn't obvious in the latest video of the successful flight, but an earlier outtake of a short hop into the air on Jan. 20 was clearly tampered with. At the 1:51 minute mark, the cameraman pans away from Smeets wearing his Human Bird Wings just as he begins to flap his arms. When the camera pans back, Smeets and his contraption have been replaced with a CGI (computer generated imagery) human and wings.

"That method of pan away just before the CGI action is common [in faked videos]," Coker said.

The March 18 video was made with more care, but it, too, strikes CGI experts as an elaborate fake. Ryan Martin, Technical Director at Industrial Light & Magic, and his colleagues told the techblog Gizmodo that the video's poor focus covers up most evidence of CGI, but that the cloth material of Smeets' wings looks unnaturally stiff, and is computer generated.

Furthermore, the experts point out that the animation cycle of Smeets flying through the air seems to be modeled on a clip of a flying monkey in the Wizard of Oz. However, Martin and his colleagues also view the pan-away in the Jan. 20 video, and the differences between Smeets' and the wings' appearance before and after the pan, as the smoking gun that the whole Human Bird Wings project is a fraud. In particular, after the pan, a black square appears on the right wing that was clearly not there before.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012...o-fake-probably-ad-expert-says/#ixzz1preOMH2y

 

[Hans de Vries]

I took my daughter dozens of times to the playground you see there in the video
It's just around he corner here. Well, I haven't been a witness unfortunately but maybe
we'll get to see something in the next few days.

In the other videos you see the two 2000W brush less electrical motors in his backpack
which together with the gearboxes produce the wing flapping which is controlled via the
accelerometers on his arms. So he's moving his arms but the motors should do the work.

The mechanics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH3fQbGlQlM&list=UU7W2f5n5vYfM7TYVir3iPGw&index=6&feature=plcp
The design: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgD0fYAaLq4&list=UU7W2f5n5vYfM7TYVir3iPGw&index=11&feature=plcp
All videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/jarnosmeets80?feature=watch
Some discussions on gizmode: http://gizmodo.com/5894904/man-flies-like-a-bird-flapping-his-own-wings


Is it true or not? Will be revealed in the 22th March edition of "de wereld draaid door"

Hans.

 

[checkitagain]

This whole thread reminded me of this:"The Miracle of Flight: A cutout animation by Terry Gilliam**" on YouTube** In part, the animator for Monty Python

 

[256bits]

Put 80 pound weights on the ends of your arms and start flapping. Because that is how much each arm has to support if the guy weighs 160 pounds. Doable - No. Its all fake.

But the artist set out to cause a sensation and he does seem successful with the interest and discussion of his video. The artistic intention could have been to prove how gullable people are visually.

 

[I_am_learning]

There have been human Power Flight, and there have been Battery/Motor powered flight. There have been Solar Powered Flight. There have been gas powered flight :).

This man didn't do anything new, even if its not fake. And on top of that he looks fake. Why are we giving so much importance to all this event?

 

[Evo]

Why are we giving so much importance to all this event?

Good question. I have no idea. Just another stupid viral video.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There have been human Power Flight, and there have been Battery/Motor powered flight. There have been Solar Powered Flight. There have been gas powered flight :).

This man didn't do anything new, even if its not fake. And on top of that he looks fake. Why are we giving so much importance to all this event?

I was going to say that there has never been human-powered flapping flight, but not true.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E77j1imdhQ

 

[zoobyshoe]

I didn't say impossible, I said impractical. The rider had to generate something like 400 watts continuous, which is beyond most people's ability for all but a very short time - less than a minute. The guy who did that had to train for a very long time.

It's a strange objection to say it's impractical. Impractical for what purpose? How practical do you want it to be? Most people can't pedal a bicycle for as long as he took to cross the English Channel. Does that mean bicycles are impractical? A lot of people can't walk continuously for two hours. Is walking impractical?

I think he more than demonstrated human powered flight is possible, not just in theory, but in practice: it can be practically achieved. If you want it to be a practical alternative to commercial airline transportation, then no. But then bicycles aren't practical for the same reason: they're not going to replace cars. If everyone owned and could pedal a Gossamer Albatross for over two hours, they'd still be impractical: there'd be no place to park them all, and I doubt anyone could get insurance.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

It's a strange objection to say it's impractical. Impractical for what purpose? How practical do you want it to be?

It is impractical as compared to riding a bicycle the same distance, which only requires a fraction of the energy. It is impractical as it could never be a viable form of transportation, like a bicycle. It is impractical because the average person could never get off the ground.

However, flying monkeys may be another matter. I have a new goal in life.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Put 80 pound weights on the ends of your arms and start flapping. Because that is how much each arm has to support if the guy weighs 160 pounds. Doable - No. Its all fake.

Check out Hansdevrie's first link: the wings are mechanically operated in sync with his arm motions. There doesn't seem to be any claim of human powered flight here.

 

[Borek]

Fake:

http://m.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/birdman-admits-hoax/

 

[rhody]

Fake:

http://m.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/birdman-admits-hoax/

The man who claimed to achieve bird-like flight with a custom-built contraption came clean today: It was a hoax 8 months in the making.

Idiots... How can really smart people be so dumb, they must be thinking, haha... I fooled you morons for 8 months and now I am fessing up because the truth is about to break. Put your efforts into really doing what was faked, then I would be impressed.

Rhody...

 

[zoobyshoe]

Fake:

http://m.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/birdman-admits-hoax/

Since the wings aren't alleged to be human powered, I have to admit I would never have suspected this of being hoaxed. The CGI must certainly be Hollywood quality; none of it looks hinkey to me. The only thing he's done different than a glider is the take off, and that doesn't seem far fetched to me given he's got a motor flapping the wings for him.

 

[256bits]

Check out Hansdevrie's first link: the wings are mechanically operated in sync with his arm motions. There doesn't seem to be any claim of human powered flight here.

I meant to say the arms that the motor moves, and used the example of the weights to give an idea of the power needed for flapping - he has 2 small motors and 4 5000mAh batteries. I didn't think it was enough.