New paper on swift aerodynamics

A new paper based on wind tunnel research is just out. This time it is flapping flight of the swift Apus apus, which is investigated by means of high-speed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The paper reveals many new details about the aerodynamics of this highly aerial bird. The main author is Per Henningsson, now a postdoc in the Oxford Animal Flight Group where he works on insect flight. Per did this work on swift flight together with Florian Muijres and Anders Hedenström as part of his PhD thesis that was entirely devoted to flight in the swift. Read about our favorite bird here.

New thesis: flight of swifts

On Friday 29th January 2010, Per Henningsson is defending his thesis on "fluid dynamics, flight performance and flight behavior of common swifts". The defense takes place in the Blue lecture hall at 10:00, with Prof. Bret Tobalske as faculty opponent. On the day before, you can enjoy an extra CAnMove mini-sympoium on the animal flight, starting at 14:00 in the seminar room "Tanken", in which Bret Tobalske will talk on his fascinating research on hummingbird flight. That the swift is a remarkable bird is perhaps not new to most of us, and Per is now getting some well deserved media attention for his spectacular PhD thesis. See e.g.http://www.gp.se/nyheter/sverige/1.296297-flygexpertens-hemlighet-avslojad