Is it true that a bumble bee is aerodynamically incapable of flight but doesn't know it so he flies anyway?

It is a logical fallacy for if he is truly incapable of flight, he cannot fly.  

I'm serious. [thinking] [whacko]

Lets test this theory.  Beekeeper, go outside and tap one of your bees on the shoulder, let him know that WE at AR15, know that he is incabable of flight.  He should drop like a stone.



Is it true that if a tree falls in the woods, and nobody is around to hear it.....you know the rest

IIRC, a group at MIT fed all the info and dimentions of the Bumble Bee into a computer, and the read-out came back with the conlcusion that the wings weren't capable of keeping the bees in flight.  If this is true, the one that chased me down and stung my beind the ear obviously hadn't read the report.

Theoretically true but......

[:D]

You were stung by a Bumble Bee?

They are very friendly, as bees go.  I never have a problem with them.

Makes me think that the MIT folks are mising something, or there is some unknown aspect of aerodynamics with respect to the humble bumble that we don't fully understand.  Is it possible to overcome the laws of physics through sheer will power?  If so, I believe I can fly...I believe...I believe....

mejames, it might have something to do with the peach I pulled off the tree where he was.  Either that, or he missed the memo about being friendly too.

I have heard the same said about Hueys. That a crowd of eggheads were given the specs and reportedly came up with a "it won't fly" verdict. Glad I did not know that before I flew a couple thousand hours in one.


Aviator  [img]www.milpubs.com/aviator.gif[/img]

So what's new? The best minds in the world concluded centuries ago that anything heavier than air cannot fly. They just forgot to take into account crawling through the air like, say, the bumblebee does.

Old, OLD, [red]OLD[/red] story.

Think about the advances made in aerodynamics in the last thirty years.  Then decide whether, in the 1960's, they would have thought that the F117A Stealth could fly.

You want "can't possibly fly" stories, take a look at this one:
[url]http://www.oz.net/~justice/dogfight.html[/url]

OLD Idea. New study shows how and why They fly. In simple terms : The wing's
movements generate lift in a different way than a bird or airplane wing does. No magic here....

Tall Shadow

The quote was from Igor Sikorski.  He was an inventor of a machine along the same lines as the bee.  (snicker)  Planerench out.

The secret to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss.


Didn't a team of engineers also conclude that it was impossible for a man to run a 4 min. mile?

The real question is:

Can they make my car fly???

went to the site you posted, [url]http://www.oz.net/~justice/dogfight.html[/url], very interesting:

Can I presume the Israeli's fly F15s off of aircraft carriers? [;)]

As I understand it, the "bumblebees can't fly" theory was based on an erroneous assumption.  When they filmed bumblebees in flight they found that the wings aren't used to generate lift only on the "downstroke" as most birds do it, but in both forward and reverse motion like a swimmer treads water - thus nearly doubling the effective lift.  

And Huey's don't fly, Aviator:  They vibrate so bad the earth rejects them. [:D]

Well...yes and no.

Many years ago, while on a training op at Camp Pendleton, I was part of a small unit setting a 'bush up.  At the time, it was about 1730 and we were laying low...doing nothing more than staying hidden and silent.  The plan was to whack the bad guys right at chow (Which we did VERY successfully...but that's another story!)

Anyway...as I'm laying there on my belly...being real silent I look down and there's this real big black bumble bee-looking critter who has landed on my arm and is mightly trying to sting me through my BDUs.  I was freaking terrified!  Not too much of the bug...but that if he got me I'd make some noise.

I had my rifle in my left hand, and the position I was in would have required me to move too much to get the bug off...so I whispered to my parter next to me on my right...he looked and I said, "Get it OFF!"  He made one swift, silent swipe of his hand and bug gone!

I'll give it to that bee...he was a persistant dude.  He just kept on trying to shove the big stinger into me.

(Edited because I can't remove my head from my rectal orifice far enough to figure this out!)

For the longest time that was true. Arenautical enginneers could sit down with and with a pencil and calculator could prove that a bee could not fly. A few years ago MIT did wind tunnel testing to detrimine how it could fly. What we figured out was that the wings of a bee create a ortex which improve the lift of the wings.

Dunno!  Good point.  I'll see if I can find any of the journals the story mentions to see if they (a) really exist and (b) have the story in them.

Anyone else know??  I doubt these are going to be in the pooblik libarry, but I'll give it a shot.

[red]Old[/red] topic I knew had likely been covered at some point but I was born yesterday....

I figured that the egg-heads had missed something to start the initial idea.  Thanks.  

Is this the same computer that they use to predict Global Warming?