Terrence I Murphy

Flappers Terrence I Murphy

When man first walked the earth, he noticed and studied the birds, bats, insects, etc. and it's logical that he attempted to emulate these beautiful, wild, flying creatures by attaching feathers to his arms and flapping them. People in legends and fairytales have always been able to magically fly and ancient Chinese, Persians, Romans, Arabs, monks, scholars, warriors and craftsmen have all tried to build flying machines. History has shown that humans couldn't fly by flapping: not with wings covering their arms or using any other device at the time. It wasn't until the 1930s when Alexander Lippisch and the NSFK (National Socialist Flying Corps) in Germany constructed and successfully flew a series of internal-combustion-powered ornithopters, using Hargrave's concept of small flapping wings, but with aerodynamic improvements resulting from methodical study.