What happens when you need to demonstrate how a Pterosaur flies, yet — unfortunately — don’t have access to any living samples of the long extinct dinosaur? You’d likely end up doing what Stanford University and National Geographic did for their Pterosaur Replica Project: build one.
The finished creation — affectionately dubbed “Herkie” by the project team — assumed a starring role in the National Geographic Documentary Sky Monsters. This beast was on display (in various states of completion) here at Maker Faire. The finished creation had a wingspan of three meters, and hopefully should help shed some light on the aerodynamic principles that helped ancient winged dinosaurs take flight. The original stated aim of the project, as described on the Stanford Project site:
We aim to design and construct a full-scale, flyable, realistic replica of Anhanguerra Piscator, a 5 meter wingspan pterodactyloid pterosaur that lived 110 Million years ago. Our goal is to honor paleontological data as best as known and as best as possible.
Check out the official Stanford project site here, or the National Geographic Sky Monsters shop page here. – [Jeff James]
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