Human Powered Ornithopter, Students Flies Like a Bird!!

A Canadian University student has done what Lenardo da Vinci had only dreamt of Piloted a human powered "wing-flapping" plane called an "Ornithopter" and the inspiration for modern day helicopters, the machine was first sketched by da Vinci back in 1485 and never actually built.
Todd Reichert an engineering student at the University of Toronto made history by sustaining flight in his ornithopter named Snowbird for 19.3 seconds and covering 475.72 feet on August 2nd 2010. Snowbird is made from carbon fiber, balsa wood and foam. The 92.59 pound vehicle maintained an average speed of 15.91 miles per hour.

Todd and his plane made accomplishment on August  2nd 2010 at the Great Lakes Gliding Club in Tottenham Ontario. The crew kept the achievement quiet for nearly 2 months to get the data finalized. Todd and some 30 other students had been working on the plane for 4 years.The team went through 65 practice flights.
Todd endured a year-long exercise program in which he lost 18 lbs to prep for the flight. Because the plane has a wingspan of 104 feet which is comparable to that of Boeing 737, the pilot had to pedal with his legs all while pulling on the wings to flap at the same time and he had to do it fast enough to fly.
 " Our orignal goal was to complete this sort of orignal aeronautical dream to fly like a bird", said 28 year old Reichert. " The idea was to fly under your own power by flapping your wings".
The flight witnessed by the Federation Aeronautique International is the first officialy confirmed flight in an ornithopter.
"Thousands of people have tried to do this for hundreds of years," Said Reichert. "To be honest, i don't think it's really set in yet that i am the one who has been successful. I was pushing with everything I had. When i finally go and landed, i was hit with a breadth of excitement. It was pretty wild."