A flapping feathered wing-powered aerial vehicle

Abstract

An aerial vehicle powered by flapping feathered wings was designed, developed and fabricated. Different from legacy flapping-wing aerial vehicles with membrane wings, the new design uses authentic bird feathers to fabricate wings. In field tests, a radio-controlled electric-powered aerial vehicle with flapping feathered wings successfully took off, flew up to 63.88 s and landed safely. It was found that flapping feathered wings can generate sufficient thrust and lift to make a man-made aerial vehicle accomplish takeoff, sustainable flight and a safe landing.