For an instant, the rotation accelerates the airflow over the top of the wing, thus generating a burst of even greater lift. By controlling the timing of those wing flips, the insect can steer the direction of the lift. That may have something to do with how H. hinei wrighti manages to turn in mid-flight and pursue a passing female at 90 mph. With military funding, Ellington and Dickinson are both now trying to build flying microvehicles. To be useful for surveillance, Ellington says, the vehicles would need to generate enough lift to carry an instrument payload and ideally be able to hover.
Insects are masters at high-lift hovering.
But building a flapping robot with a six-inch wingspan that can be steered and won't shake itself to bits may still be beyond the skill of human engineers. On the other hand, a microflapper would certainly be more fun. It's always been my ultimate goal to have a little radio-controlled flying insect. The day that can be done, we'll have really understood flapping insect flight. We're starting to get close to it now.