[Spaceships] Ornithopter Wings no longer TL5+2!

[Ulzgoroth]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

So, just pondering this, ornithopters could be interesting as a transportation option. But I think they entirely lack a rationale as a combat aircraft; modern fighters and versatility aircraft are intentionally aerodynamically unstable. The trend has been toward the least wing-like behavior you can get away with.

For fast-movers, if you've got thrust options like we do flapping wings are useless because the pusher speed is far too low. Highly-articulated wings might allow more radical maneuvering options, though, so there might be some value in the supporting technology.

Depending on how you define 'aircraft' though, these days RC quad-copters can qualify as combat aircraft these days, so I'm sure if they were cheaply available there would be combat applications where ornithopters are at least viable if not necessarily optimal.