"I have always dreamed about this. A F****ing magical moment, the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life!" Raving on, Dutch engineer Jarno Smeets continued, "We did it! This weekend I flew a 100 meters with my self built wings. I used a GoPro-camera on my helmet to film the flight."
Remember when you fashioned wings and attempted to take flight from a perch on the garage roof – or maybe you tried to talk your little brother into it? Memories are hazy when there is a concussion involved… But it’s likely that you envisioned a take-off much like the one a Dutch engineer experienced.
For the technically minded. Smeets carefully stitched together the 37-ounce fabric wireless wings, with a kind of tail feather, all based on a sophisticated aerodynamic design. His flapping arms provided 5% of the energy needed to provide lift, while the rest was created by a combination of Wii controllers, accelerometers from an Android phone, and Turnigy motors. “You’re running. At one moment you see the ground moving away, and then suddenly you’re free," Smeets says on his video, near tears. "Effing magical."