A group of researchers from Beihang University in China has set the world record for the longest flight of an ornithopter, a type of drone that flaps its mechanical wings. The equipment is powered by a lithium-ion battery, weighs 1.6 kilograms and has a wingspan of two meters, can reach speeds of ten meters per second.

The record came when the winged drone flew exactly one hour, 30 minutes and 4.98 seconds in an open field on the outskirts of Beijing. Watch the video of the event:

According to the Chinese media report xinhua, previous ornithopter records did not exceed the half-hour mark. A team led by researcher Zhao Longfei applied to break the record in October 2021.

Zhao says the motivation for optimizing the flight of the ornithopter is that previous records are far behind other conventional aircraft. It is worth remembering that the first ornithopter idea came from Leonardo da Vinci in 1485. During the first tests, the Chinese drone was already able to fly for 53 minutes. After the optimization of the power system and wing dynamics, its performance in flight has almost doubled.

Ornithopters mimic the flight of birds, bats and insects. According to the Chinese researcher, the development of such technology makes it possible to design new innovative models of aircraft, scare off birds near airports and even help create probes to explore the planet Mars. Source