Making of Ornithopter

 What is an "Ornithopter"?


 An ornithopter is a device that imitates the flapping-wing flight found in nature. The word "ornithopter" (c.1908) combines the ancient Greek words for "bird" and "wing". An ornithopter doesn't need to have feathers, though. What makes it birdlike is the flapping motion! Airplanes have a rotating propeller. Helicopters have a rotary wing that provides both lift and thrust. But animals don't have any rotating parts!

How to Make It?

What are the materials required?

1.Balsa Wood/Ice cream Sticks.
2.Music Wire(Binding Wire)
3.Glue/fevikwik/fevicol(Adhesives)
4.Small Beads
5.Tissue Paper
6.Medium Thick Rubber Band
7.Small Quantity of vegetable oil to smoothen the rubber(optional)
8.Scissor(to cut sticks)
9.1 hour of your time
Thats it....No electronic components are used.....!!!!

Procedure:

Step 1:

Making of Fugelage:

Question Arrises....

What is Fuselage?

 Fuselage is an aircraft's main body section that holds crew and passengers or cargo.

Make a hook in the rear tail motor attachment wire. Push the wire carefully through the center of motor stick at a point three-fourth inch from tail end.

Next, make two 90 degree bends in wire and glue into place using Adhesive.  Reinforce the wire-to-balsa/Sticks joint by putting a tissue paper cover over it.  Dab the joint w/thin layer of Adhesive

Make Paper Rolls:

 Cut into three 1/2" long tubes.  Attach the tubes to the fuselage as shown using the Adhesives

Step 2:

Use  pliers to bend the wire for the crank.  Insert the crank wire through the paper tube glued to the crank standoff.  Make a 60 degree bend in the center of the 3/4" side.  Place 3 beads on the wire (as shown).  Make a bend in the back part of the wire for a motor hook

Finally It should look like this

.

Step 3:

Making of Wing Spars

Question Arrises:

What are Wing Spars?

1. In a fixed-wing aircraft, the spar is often the main structural member of the wing, running spanwise at right angles (or thereabouts depending on wing sweep) to the fuselage. The spar carries flight loads and the weight of the wings while on the ground.

Bend music wire as shown.  Carefully push wire through wing spar at a point 3/4" from one end.  Glue into place using Adhesive and reinforce the joint by wrapping layer of tissue paper around the joint and coating with Adhesive. Repeat process for 2nd wing spar
Finally it should look like this:

Step 4:

Making of Tail

Use Adhesive to glue the balsa rods into a T shape.  Reinforce the joint by covering it with tissue paper soaked w/thin layer of Adhesive.  Poke the end of the fuselage tail attachment wire into the balsa tail member.  Then glue the assembly and finally reinforce by wrapping.

Step 5:

Make the Connecting Rods

Harden the rods by coating the last 1/2" of each end of both with CA.  Make 2 holes for the music wire in each in each connecting rod, 1/4" from each end

Step 6:

Making of Wings

Cut out tissue paper wings as shown.

Step 7:

Assemble the parts

Glue tissue paper wing to wing spars and the top wing attachment member.  Next, glue tissue paper tail to the balsa T frame w/glue stick.  Connect connecting rods to the wing spar attachment wires and crank.  Adjust spacing of connecting rods so the crank turns smoothly.  

Place heat shrinkable tubing over the crank and wing spar wires to maintain alignment, and carefully heat w/match to shrink tubing. NOTE: Materials are very flammable, so use great care!  Finally, bend the tail up so that it is at about 15 degrees from the plane of the motor stick

Step 8:

Place rubber band over the front and rear motor attachment hooks.  Wind up the rubber band motor by turning the crank 30-35 times.  Angle the ornithopter's nose up slightly and release gently. *Optional: Rub the rubber band with a little vegetable oil for lubrication; this can help it go smoother

Thats it ..Hope you understood the procedure of making an ORNITHOPTER.
Just spend an hour and try it.

Note:Make your model according to the dimensions given.

For More understanding I will place a video tutorial youtube link for you.
click here