I am a volunteer at the Boston Museum of Science. There I introduce visitors to flight using walkalong gliders. Walkalong gliders can be sustained and controlled by a suitably placed paddle as the glider flies through the air. The glider is sustained by the updraft of the air moving over the paddle. I have also had success preparing butterflies which have died to fly as walkalong gliders. The natural question which arises is whether a bird skin can be mounted and balanced to fly as a glider. For more information on walkalong gliders see:
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I'd be happy to help anyone who would be interested in pursuing such an endevour.
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I'm going to say no. Bird flight, including gliding is dependent on a complex set of variables, all orchastrated and working together under control of the brain. Obviously, the brain would not be working in a mounted specimin. Without a working brain, important factors such as balance, muscle/feather control etc. would be non-existent. During flight/gliding there are on-going subtleties and adjustments that the bird continualy makes, without a brain, it would not fly/glide.
Just one Bubbas opinion.
Harley
It'll work if you can put a computer chip that makes it have a 'brain', the computer doesn't crash, and you use a wind tunnel to generate the correct wind for the 'bird' to glide against.
It wouldnt be easy. The wing area is sufficient, and the airfoil should work in theory, but, in reality, once the wings are skinned there are probably some slight distortions introduced that would make balancing it for flight a real trial.
You could try with a pigeon. They usually glide with their wings in a steep dihedral that would at least be of some help in achieving stability. Plus they are good fliers, cheap to buy, legal, easy to skin, and tend to be in reasonably good plumage.