Snowbird - Ornithopter - Ottawa, Ontario - Static Aircraft Displays on Waymarking.com

From an information panel on site:

The Snowbird was the world's first successful human powered ornithopter. Todd Reichert and Cameron Robertson led the team that designed and built the Snowbird while they were graduate students at the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies. The team made headlines world wide in 2010 when Reichert flew the ornithopter at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario - sustaining flight for 19 seconds.

Size + Weight +Power = A Formula for success

Humans are heavy - it takes giant wings to carry a person through the air. In the past, human-powered ornithopters failed because they were too heavy for pilots to power with their own strength. To meet this challenge, Reichert and Robertson designed the Snowbird with a huge wingspan, while making it very light at 43 kilograms (95 pounds). In addition, Reichert underwent intense physical training to ensure that the could power the Snowbird wings. He actually attained the fitness level of an Olympic rower.

" A Canadian university student has done what Leonardo da Vinci had only dreamt of: piloted a human-powered "wing-flapping" plane! Called an ornithopter, and the inspiration for modern day helicopters, the machine was first sketched by Da Vinci way back in 1485 and never actually built.

Todd Reichert, an engineering student at the University of Toronto, made history by sustaining flight in his ornithopter--named Snowbird--for 19.3 seconds and covering 475.72 feet. Snowbird is made from carbon fiber, balsa wood and foam. The 92.59 pound vehicle maintained an average speed of 15.91 miles per hour.

Todd and his plane made the accomplishment on August 2nd at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham, Ontario. The crew kept the achievement quiet for nearly two months to get the data finalized. Todd and some 30 other students had been working on the plane for 4 years.
The team went through 65 practice flights and sadly, the aircraft will probably never be flown again.

Todd endured a year long exercise program in which he lost 18 lbs. to prep for the flight. With a wingspan of 104 feet--which is comparable to that of a Boeing 737--he had to pedal with his legs all while pulling on the wings to flap at the same time. And he had to do it fast enough to fly!
"Our original goal was to complete this sort of original aeronautical dream to fly like a bird," said 28-year-old Reichert yesterday. "The idea was to fly under your own power by flapping your wings."

The flight, witnessed by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), is the first officially confirmed flight in an ornithopter.

"Thousands of people have tried to do this for hundreds of years," said Reichert. "To be honest, I don't think it's really set in yet that I'm the one who has been successful. I was pushing with everything I had. When I finally let go and landed, I was hit with a breadth of excitement. It was pretty wild."

I bet it was, Todd!

Reference: (visit link)

Type of Aircraft: (make/model): Snowbird Ornithopter - Ottawa, Ontario Tail Number: (S/N): Unknown Construction:: original aircraft Location (park, airport, museum, etc.): Canadian Aviation and Space Museum inside / outside: inside Other Information:: Space and Aviation Museum - Ottawa, Ontario Opening hours Daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission fees Adult $15, Youth (3-17) $10 Senior (age 60+) / Student $13 - Free on Thursday from 4 to 5 PM Access restrictions: Aircrafts cannot be touched. There are barriers on the floor that serve to prevent visitors from approaching too close and touching the aircraft.

Visit Instructions:
Photo of aircraft (required - will be interesting to see if the aircraft is ever repainted or progress if being restored)
Photo of serial number (required unless there is not one or it is a replica)
Photo(s) of any artwork on the aircraft (optional but interesting)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/22/2023 jiggs11 visited it