Designing Stable Tiny Fliers

Get Inside the Science:

• Leif Ristroph, Researcher, New York University
• Building Better Flapping Fliers
• The importance of being top-heavy: Intrinsic stability of flapping flight

1. Flight Stability - The ability of an object to maintain a specific angle and position while moving through the air.
2. Aerodynamic Lift - The lift created by aerodynamic forces acting on an airfoil that oppose the force of gravity.
3. Airfoil - The shape of the wing or blade.