Aerodynamics and
Hydrodynamics of the Human
Body, Birds, and Boeing
By Lance Winslow
Summary:
This is an ongoing
discussion of theory,
insight, observation,
imitation, innovation,
evolution and bettering the
systems of nature to create
better systems to propel the
forward progression of
mankind.
The aerodynamics of the
human body are very
interesting indeed. This may
sound somewhat funny,
because human beings can't
fly, however our desire to
fly has enabled us to adapt
and innovate to achieve the
same purpose. Man has always
dreamed of being able to fly
like the birds. The
aerodynamics of the human
body are quite serious in
many sports. To confirm
this, just at
Lance
Armstrong in a tour to
France.
Bicycle racing aerodynamics
against the relative wind
are quite serious. In most
bicycle races the riders are
doing in excess of 60 mph
for a large part of the race
and the aerodynamics of the
human being are as serious
as they are in it modern day
automobile performance, fuel
economy and directional
control. Wind Tunnel testing
for bicycle racing gear such
as helmets, racing frames,
racing attire are coming
place. We know that NASA
material science is also
used in modern sports from
everything from skies to
golf clubs, Jamaican
Bobsleds to swimming suits
and from marathon running
shoes to those bicycle
components.
Aerodynamics, material
sciences and human geometry
(biometrics, ergonomics) are
as common in the Olympics as
they are in Auto Racing,
Dick Rutan and the X-Prize,
Reno Air Races, Space Flight
and in modern military
equipment operation. In the
Wright Brothers first
aircraft the pilot laid out
on the wing so he was fully
part of the aerodynamics
from the first flight.
Now we have parachutes,
parasailing, ultra-lights,
Gyro-Copters, Jet packs,
etc, where the aerodynamics
of the human being is a huge
factor. Having had the
chance to race competitively
street motorcycles in my
day, I can tell you it is a
huge component to
performance. The human body
is what it is, the bike is
already quite
aerodynamically designed,
how the body is placed when
you accelerate the
motorcycle to 185 plus mph
makes a huge difference.
Whether you are shooting a
man out of a cannon or
jumping off the pier into
the Annual Human Powered
Flight Contest into the
Hudson Bay, this is no
joking matter, aerodynamics
of the human body is just as
important in racing, sport
as it is for the birds in
the sky or the fish which
fly.
The aerodynamics and fluid
dynamics of many species
especially species of prey
will ultimately decide their
survival, if they fail to
have the adequate speed,
then they will not be able
to eat. If a species, which
is hunted cannot dodge or
move fast enough then it
will have no other option
than to massively reproduce
to avoid extinction or
maintain tight formations,
swarms, herds or social
order to use the safety in
numbers principle. The
fastest bird, the peregrine
falcon was clocked at 217
mph in Germany while in a
dive. Most Falcon's can
catch their prey in midair
are at speed of around 100
mph, although usually much
less. No wonder the Military
named the F-16 the Falcon?
The spine-tailed swift has a
maximum speed a high of 106
mph in level flight. Thus
the Falcon might have a
tough time extending it’s
wings at that speed for the
proper speed to catch it,
thus it can live near
Falcons without being eaten
and the Falcon will then go
after lesser prey with
better odds of eating. If
you look at the F-14 it has
the ability to bring it’s
wings out for slow flight
and keep them swept for
accelerated and sustained
cruising speed, very similar
to the bird. The first
moveable winged jet aircraft
was the well-known X-5,
which variable in-flight
wing configurations as did
the F-111, B-1 and several
others. Many aircraft have
been designed to change
various other configurations
for many reasons, the F-8
Crusader changed it’s angle
of attack and the SST and
Concorde change it’s nose on
take offs.
Most modern fighters have
speed brakes to slow them
down. All techniques stolen
from nature, as birds adjust
their heads in flight for
visibility, adjust their
angle of attack when
approaching relative wind
for faster climb, adjust
wings for diving and stick
out their feet to slow down.
Well, yes these techniques
were stolen from nature
alright, that is pretty much
the case, yet we have
obviously improved on
natures designs in this
dimension. After all we are
now building aircraft
capable of Mach 5 and
others, which can carry many
hundreds of tons in
payloads. In skydiving you
learn quickly how to
maneuver your body to
achieve your intended path.
A bird would do much the
same only be 100 times
better at it since it
practices all day long
everyday.
Most ordinance, which is
delivered, such as bombs
need to be dropped well
under the speed of sound so
that they do not in fact
create their own new
trajectory as they fly away
from where they are pointed
and need to be delivered.
Having been employed washing
cars in my day, I can tell
you we may in fact have
stolen that idea too.
Aircraft like birds do lots
of adjusting and playing
around with configurations
to allow them to take
advantage of various
situations as needed, thus
aerodynamically speaking man
has copied the observations
he has witnessed from birds
since his first flight. How
about another example, the
Bald Eagle, the United
States of America’s official
mascot? Well it has a
souring level flight speed
of around 50 mph, which is
quite fast in bird terms.
While souring The adult
Eagle’s wing span is between
6 and 7 feet.
Largest discovered was 7.9
feet, but the wings folded
back can allow the eagle to
dive at very fast speeds of
around 75 mph as it would be
most difficult to attain
significant speed with such
large wings extended.
Different configurations and
methodologies can also be
applied to human body
aerodynamics with a little
bit of modification. All the
while having an incredible
accuracy in it’s vision,
which would make military
intelligence proud indeed as
the F-15 Eagle relies
enhanced equipment and the
human component, which is
3-4 times less adapted than
the eagle’s eyes, yet with
the newest technology we
again have adapted to better
nature. If we look at the
aerodynamics of nature and
the process of evolution we
see the most adapted species
in the air as the Eagle and
Falcon, which are truly
marvels of 100’s of millions
of years, we begin and
appreciate our ominous task
of re-engineering. As we
look to build aircraft,
MAVs,
UAVs to serve mankind’s
needs we should make a note
of this. As we develop
smaller technologies and
demand versatility we will
definitely be looking at the
best nature has to offer in
the way of suggestions.
A human parachutist in a
dive has been clocked also
217 mile per hour, the
maximum speed for the
Falcon. We might ask
ourselves, is the organic
aerodynamic speed limit for
evolution on this planet 217
mph? This presently includes
our knowledge of the flight
speeds of our most adapted
species on the planet
presently. Is this figure
correct for previous
periods? What was the speed
of the Pterodactyl? Was the
air thinner or thicker under
10,000 ft. back then? Would
it have needed to go faster?
Maybe, but if so from what?
Once you are the fastest and
have no higher food chain
component to go after, why
would you evolve into a
higher performing animal?
Well if you played, had
contests and displays of
agility for procreation,
pecking order, competed for
territorial rights with your
fellow species, then you
might evolve to be better
and have greater
performance, developed
higher cognition, hunting
skills, defense skills and
evolved to fly faster too.
This would be inline with
current animal and human
behavior in our current
period and the writings of
the past 10,000 plus years
of written recorded history
and observational study of
species on earth.
We know from the study of
aerodynamic, hydrodynamics
and racing that there are
also issues with ROI or
issues with diminishing
returns. For instance if a
Pterodactyl were to fly
faster, it would need to
develop more muscle, lose
weight, spend more time
developing flight skills.
However this takes time away
from hunting. It would cause
issues with its ability to
fight off other pterodactyls
and would mean more food
intake was needed. So a
happy medium would
eventually be reached for
continuation of the species,
social order, etc. So then,
is that compromise or happy
medium 217 mph? A man
falling in freefall from an
aircraft fully tucked and
using the BMPs for rapid
decent maxed out at 217
mph, like the Falcon. It is
highly interesting that
these organic matter speeds
that the highly evolved
Falcon is so similar to the
diving speed of a human
being. We can learn a lot
about how the human body
interacts with the elements
and the study of
aerodynamics has lots to
still learn from nature.
By Lance Winslow
Article Source:
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