Why is it so difficult for us to just replicate a bird instead of the kind of fixed wing aircraft we have?

Question

Why is it so difficult for us to just replicate a bird instead of the kind of fixed wing aircraft we have?

In: 164

Answer 1

There’s a [Smarter Every Day video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKokxPRtck&t=70s) that covers one aspect well. While the feathers on a wing appear to form one solid surface, during the upstroke the main flight feathers individually rotate in a way that air flows through the wing. Kind of like Venetian blinds you open during the day and close at night.

Helicopters can do something similar when you direct them to turn (pushing air down on one side while spinning flat on the other side), but most helicopters have no more than eight blades on the main rotor. Compare this against birds that have over a dozen main feathers on each wing. The complexity needed to mimic just this one aspect is boggling enough.