This paper gives the results of an investigation into the effects of wing torsion in a ternary-type spring-tab flutter. The results presented are for a series of calculations on an idealised system having degrees of freedom in wing pitch, rotation of the control surface and rotation of the tab; the pitching degree of freedom is spring restrained and is intended to represent wing torsion. The ta...

The focus of ElectronixTutor is to build an intelligent tutoring system technology for Navy-relevant applications in training. The goal is to have an ITS for Apprentice Technician Training (ATT) courses in electronics for naval trainees who have completed boot camp and are in the process of A-school training under the Navy Educational Training Command and to supplement the human instruction wit...

This study presents an aeroelastic wing shaping control concept for distributed propulsion aircraft. By leveraging wing flexibility, wing-mounted distributed propulsion can be used to re-twist wing shapes in-flight to improve aerodynamic efficiency. A multidisciplinary approach is used to develop an aero-propulsive-elastic model of a highly flexible wing distributed propulsion transport aircraf...

Insect wings are great resources for studying morphological diversities in nature as well as in fossil records. Among them, variation in wing venation is one of the most characteristic features of insect species. Venation is therefore, undeniably a key factor of species-specific functional traits of the wings; however, the mechanism underlying wing vein formation among insects largely remains u...

In the Drosophila wing anterior margin, the dendrites of gustatory neurons occupy the interior of thin and long bristles that present tiny pores at their extremities. Many attempts to measure ligand-evoked currents in insect wing gustatory neurons have been unsuccessful for technical reasons. The functions of this gustatory activity therefore remain elusive and controversial. To advance our kno...

We use a factorial experimental design to test whether rearing at colder temperatures shifts the lower thermal envelope for flight of Drosophila melanogaster Meigen to colder temperatures. D. melanogaster that developed in colder temperatures (15 degrees C) had a significant flight advantage in cold air compared to flies that developed in warmer temperatures (28 degrees C). At 14 degrees C, col...

Recent years have seen an increasing interest in micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) and flapping flight in connection to that. The Delft University of Technology has developed a flapping wing MAV, “DelFly II”, which relies on a flapping bi-plane wing configuration for thrust and lift. The ultimate aim of the present research is to improve the flight performance of the DelFly II from both an aerodynam...

While the biological flyers often showcase high deformed wing structures, the effects of flexibility on the flapping wing aerodynamics remain inadequately understood. A major challenge in the study of flexible flapping wings is that the resulting wing motion is an outcome of a dynamic balance between the structural dynamics of the wing and the unsteady aerodynamics. Since the effective angle of...

This paper describes the biomechanics of an unusual form of wing stridulation in katydids, termed here 'reverse stridulation'. Male crickets and katydids produced sound to attract females by rubbing their forewings together. One of the wings bears a vein ventrally modified with teeth (a file), while the other harbours a scraper on its anal edge. The wings open and close in rhythmic cycles, but ...

Flight speed is expected to increase with mass and wing loading among flying animals and aircraft for fundamental aerodynamic reasons. Assuming geometrical and dynamical similarity, cruising flight speed is predicted to vary as (body mass)(1/6) and (wing loading)(1/2) among bird species. To test these scaling rules and the general importance of mass and wing loading for bird flight speeds, we u...