Free Republic

As kids, we dreamt of a day where we'd flap our wings and take off into the great blue yonder to travel amongst the birds, right? On the swings, we pumped higher and higher until at last, for an exhilarating second, we would let go as we reached maximum height and soared freely through the air, experiencing complete independence from terra firma. When did we stop trying to fly? When did we become so content with remaining beholden to gravity? Well, Todd Reichert never gave up that silly dream. After years of planning and development with a team made up...

For an aeronautical engineer it was the perfect day and a perfect end to a quest that has consumed his life for more than 30 years. Yesterday Dr. James DeLaurier, an aeronautical engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies, fulfilled a lifelong dream, seeing his manned mechanical flapping-wing airplane, or ornithopter, fly — a dream first imagined by Leonardo da Vinci. And with the successful flight DeLaurier has been lucky enough to touch what many describe as the Holy Grail of aeronautical design, achieving a place for himself, his team of volunteers and students...