On Aug 22, 2006, at 8:42 AM, Don Williams wrote: > Right. They move up 3 inches and down 3 inches 100 times per second. > This means they average about 50 feet per second. But, of course, the > wings stop at the end of each up and down beat and accelerate/ > decelerate > to the end of the next, so they'd be travelling somewhat faster > than 50 > fps maybe even 100 feet per second at some stage.
If I remember right, the wingtips of hummingbirds make an elongated figure 8 movement, so they really don't stop moving at all. I'm sure this figure 8 movement puts less stress on the wings than stopping and starting would. Bob -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
