[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.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Ulzgoroth

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.

The reason modern fighters are aerodynamically unstable is so they can do radical maneuvers.

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.

Oh, yeah, ornithopter transports and tank killers could certainly play a role. Perhaps if their wings were less vulnerable to rotors they could even become dominant.

Of course to me it's hard to picture a far future of warfare as being anything other than a grim theater of robots destroying other robots, until one side can hold a dagger to the other side's human population's throat.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by pawsplay

The reason modern fighters are aerodynamically unstable is so they can do radical maneuvers.

There's no particular reason ornithopter wings would be aerodynamically stable -- in fact, plenty of configurations used during a flapping movement are unstable.

[pawsplay]

Originally Posted by Anthony

There's no particular reason ornithopter wings would be aerodynamically stable -- in fact, plenty of configurations used during a flapping movement are unstable.

Okay, now I'm picturing a 'thoper folding its wings around itself like a falcon and doing some kind of barrel roll. Pretty cool, I must admit.

[Varyon]

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.

The 'thopters in Dune (the book at least) could "lock" their wings to serve more like aircraft IIRC; something like that would have some Vertol-like functionality, locking the wings for high velocity maneuvers and unfurling them to be able to ~hover in place and have increased maneuverability. But I suspect Vertols would be more effective in both roles (maybe an ornithopter would be a bit more fuel efficient when hovering, but I'm not sure - and if it were, I'm not sure it would be worth it), so this is probably more alternative tech than any sort of advancement in functionality.