Would Dune Ornithopters Work In Real Life?

Why don’t Dune ornithopters exist in real life? They're so cool looking! To answer that question, here’s how a helicopter works and how these ornithopters would compare…

But my favorite part of the story is this: Helicopters themselves were inspired in part by science fiction. The father of modern helicopters, Igor Sikorsky, said he was inspired by a fictional version in a Jules Verne book he read as a kid. He often used to quote Verne: "Anything that one man can imagine, another man can make real." I love that.

If you like optimistic stories about tech, follow for more...

3D model credit: @OutworldStudios

#shorts #dune #dune2 #tech #scifi #science #helicopter #ornithopter

[CleoAbram]

Quick correction: When it zooms in, the air moving across the wing moves the way we show (bigger side in front). But when the wings rotate, they should rotate the other way (big side stays in front)! Thank you!

[Gunga_FAB.]

Dont forget the immense stress those blades will have put on them!

[kelvincadieux]

Jules Vernes has conceived so many scientifically fictional machines in his time that are now used today (the helicopter, the submarine, even the location NASA used in Florida)

[BM-kclb]

Fun fact: The shape of the helicopter's rotor blade does not primarily produce the lift required.

[dadwithnomustache]

Fun fact: in 1930s france military built a prototype of ornithopter. The prototype went through several ground test until the wing snap during wind tunnel test due to structural failure
The project later abandoned after world war 2 started

[AC-imhi]

Fun fact: dragonflys are actually older than trees and once had 8' long wingspan

[frogturtle]

my lego ornithopter flies when I pick it up and play with it

[NorthernChev]

But more importantly, and you didn't mention this, ornithopter wings don't JUST flap "up and down", they also rotate the leading edge of each wing down and up in that same up and down stroke. Which in itself is insane to think about.

[AnimalComp]

I thought the inspo came from a dragonfly 🤔

[DJ_Force]

The blades on helicopters are often symmetrical. It's the pitch, or "angle" of the blade that provides lift, not the shape. In fact, the pitch changes as the blade rotates.

[ichbrauchmehrkaffee]

One major aspect to keep in mind:
When we scale things up, some physical properties don't scale liniarly.
Mass scales in proporion to the volume, so it scales by the scale factor cubed, while the permissable stress scales with the cross-sectional area, which only scales by the scale factor squarred.

In short, if you scale something up by a factor of 10,
the amount of force it can handle is 100 times greater, but the mass gets 1000 times greater

[trevoromondi]

Americans when it comes to measuring things to scale : football fields

[VospoGD]

The wings of the ornithopters don't provide lift, they use them to maneuver. They utilize the holtzmann effect (the sci-fi phenomena in dune that made everything possible) in order to fly.

[notribadsvault]

Dune does have antigravity devices (like how the Baron moves) so while it’s kinda a cop out you could say that’s how they achieve flight. There are real life planes that “flap” but they can’t fully fly without assistance from a propeller.

[ShadowLynx]

"I don't care if it's impossible, make it happen! Why do we even pay you for!?"

[Lwaww]

Fun fact: They did! During the inter war period one French designer designed a vechicle called Riout 102T and it was literally an ornithopter.

[hootecc]

Fun fact: the helicopterwings moved in the wrong direction

[alphacentauri]

A bird flapping doesn’t produce lift. It produces thrust.

[gillcaz]

Wait, wait! Biomimicry is still possible: bugs don't flap their wings up and down, they rotate horizontality and rock bank and forth in a figure 8 pattern, creating lift on the front and back stroke, sort of like a really good oarsman. So! Ornithopters could do that on many wings, then combine that with supermaterials, metatextures, jets, smart servos responding in real time to environmental factors, and just a lil dash of some spicy dune antigrav tech, compliments of the Baron of course, and you got yourself an ornithopter, baby!

[geraldimhof]

Also, the flapping frequency of the ornithopter's wings is so high, I'm pretty sure wear would be extremely high. At each flapping, the wings stop and accelerate super fast, which is vastly different than an rotor turning fast the same way