Dragon Copter

(Video link) Festo has built a working model ornithopter called a BionicOpter. Like the dragonfly it is based on, it can fly in all directions, hover in mid-air, and glide. 

I have always been fascinated by the idea of dragonfly ornithopters. Here is Arthur Denison's steam-powered dragoncopter from Dinotopia: The World Beneath (1995). Even though the dragonfly is a very ancient design, it's one of the most agile fliers among insects.

(link to video) The aerodynamics are suggested in this computer simulation from Wright State University.

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Thanks, Luke Davis 

Previously on GJ: 

Insect Vehicles

Butterfly ornithopter