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Animal flight
Image:Female mallard flight - natures pics.jpg Female Mallard Duck in midflight Image:Male mallard flight - natures pics.jpg Male Mallard Duck in midflight Image:Dragonfly midair.jpg A dragonfly in flight The most successful groups of living things that fly are insects, birds, and bats. Each of these groups' wings evolved separately from different structures. See also Bird flight.
Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight. However, there are several gliding mammals which are able to glide from tree to tree using fleshy membranes between their limbs; some can travel hundreds of metres in this way with very little loss in height. Flying tree frogs use greatly enlarged webbed feet for a similar purpose, and there are flying lizards which employ their unusually wide, flattened rib-cages to the same end. Certain snakes also use a flattened rib-cage to fly, with a back and forth motion much the same as they use on the ground. Flying fish can glide using enlarged wing-like fins, and have been observed soaring for hundreds of metres using the updraft on the leading edges of waves. It is thought that this ability was chosen by natural selection because it was an effective means of escape from underwater predators. Most birds fly (see bird flight), with some exceptions. The largest birds, the ostrich and the emu, are earthbound, as were the now-extinct dodos, while the non-flying penguins have adapted their wings for use under water. Most small flightless birds are native to small islands, and lead a lifestyle where flight would confer little advantage. The Peregrine Falcon is the fastest animal in the world; its terminal velocity exceeds 370 km/h (199 mph) in a dive.
Among the many species of insects, some fly and others do not (See insect flight). Mechanical flightMechanical flight is the use of a machine, called an aircraft, to fly. These machines include Kites,helicopters, autogyros, airships, balloons, and spacecraft. Gliders provide unpowered flight. Another form of mechanical flight is parasailing. This occurs by a parachute like object being pulled by a boat. The most common form of mechanical flight is aeroplane flight. Several steps are involved: See aviation history and First flying machine for the history of mechanical flight. Forces in FlightSeveral forces are particularly important for flight:
In fictionIn fiction, particularly fantasy, science fiction and comic books, many characters have the ability to fly without a vehicle, often attributed to supernatural or paranormal explanations.
Image:Flight.rob.arp.750pix.jpg Mechanical flight: A Robinson R22 Beta helicopter See also
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