Bats Inspiring Future Micro Unmanned Aircraft

coondoggie writes "It's not the first time researchers have tried to emulate flapping as a way to fly aircraft, but US Air Force-funded researchers are now looking at how bats move to help them develop future micro-aircraft. According to these researchers, birds, bats, and insects have some highly varied mechanical properties that researchers have so far not utilized in engineering flight vehicles. The idea is to reproduce bat mechanics and develop technology could lead to small, remote controlled aircraft able to move in places where fixed-wing aircraft have a hard time — like the interiors of buildings, caves, or tunnels."

Re:Not a new model

[stockard]

Yeah, they looked at that in WWII [wikipedia.org] . Apparently it worked a little too well, burning down some buildings at the nearby Army base in addition to the test buildings they set up when some bats decided to roost there instead.