charlieb wrote:
snip

Until the advent of high speed filming, the bumble bee wasn't
supposed to be able to fly. The wings just weren't large enough
to provide enough lift given the mass of the bumble bee. All
the "known" rules of aerodynamics "proved" it couldn't fly - yet
bumble bees did in fact fly. "Known" is the key word here.

When filmed with a high speed movie camera, the reason the
bumble bee COULD, in fact, fly became obvious. The assumption
had been that the wings could only provide lift on the "down
stroke". WRONG! Turns out the wings can change their orientation
to get lift on both the down stroke and the "up stroke" - almost
doubling their "lift" capabilities.

Not THIS again.

It was not "until the advent of high speed filming", it was until the
advent of sobriety on the part of the guy who did the calculation on a
napkin at a dinner party. That part, however, usually is forgotten.

snip

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--John
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(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)