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8. Some of his credits include Close Encounters, Star Trek (Part I) and The Rising Sun. 9. FriedrichSt. FIorian iscurrentlyDeanof Architectureat the Rhode Island School of Design. 10. Otto Pieneis Directorof M.I.T.’s Center for Advanced Visual Studies. 11. A discussion of Otto Piene’s sky art as well as illustrations of these two heliumfilled inflatable sculptures can be found in Leonard0 19, No. 3 (1986). GLOSSARY chroma-keyed-process of overlaying live video images with computer image transformations . Scana-mate-software system used to build images. 3M mural process-a commercial process developedby MinnesotaMiningand Mfg. Co. forproducinglarge-scalemurals.Eight-byteninch transparencies are made from 35-mm slides. The optical Scanner then analyzes and reproduces the color with ink jets. Fig. 6. Dale Eked. Medied CIoiSeersRebNt by &j~?Cted Light, lightwork executed at the Nelson-Atkims Museumof Art, KansasCity,MO,1979.Throughuseof projectedlightandaseriesof slides, the Cloister was altered almost beyond recognition and then allowed to return slowly to its originalappearance. Art and Nature in the Technology of Flight Paul B. MacCready I. INTRODUCTION The broad ecological niche of flight has been well occupied by naturefor over 200 million years. There have been insects, birds, bats and pterosaurs (and we can even include flying fish, drifting spider websand seedpods,and gliding animals). In the last hundred years humans have authoritatively entered the niche via airplanes, after having edged into it earlier with balloons and kites. Someof theconstructions,both natural and artificial, are graceful and beautiful in their flight function, and some are ornamented for beauty. Further, they operate in an atmospheric environment whichmayconstitutean artisticbackdrop to the flying. The flight realms that, for us, most obviously provide links between art, nature and aircraft are the larger Paul B. MacCready (scientist, inventor, aviator), AeroVironment, Inc.,825Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia, CA 91016, U.S.A. Based upon apresentation given on 25 October 1985 at the Conference “New Technologies of Art Where Art and ScienceMeet” held at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah. Received 30 March 1986. natural fliers and the smaller, lighter and slower of our artificial aviation devices. The seagull, the hawk and the giant pterodactyl are not farfrom thesailplane, the hang glider or the human-powered airplane. This isnot to claim that thegnat or grasshopper or wren is not exquisite, or that the giant airliner or shuttle is not as beautiful and exciting in a different way, but the connection between such disparate creations is more tenuous than for those which are more alike in sizeand function. Unusual circumstances during the past decade got me involved in the humanpowered airplane field. Here one must get by on muscle power, and so isforced into exploring the limitations of flight more through a bird’s eyes or brain than is the case with ordinary aircraft. From this entry point into flight it is inevitable that one starts thinking about the connection between art, nature and flight. 11.HUMAN-POWERED FLIGHT A fit human can develop about onequarter horsepower for a few minutes. This is a sorry performance for a 1500EAST Pergamon Journals Ltd. Printed in Great Britain. 0024494X/86 53.0010.00 LEONARDO, Vol. 19, NO.4, pp. 317-319,1986 pound ‘engine’,inasmuch as the burning of fossil fuel in a modem reciprocating aircraft engineof similarweightproduces some 400 times as much power. Big power and stronger structures than obtainable with bone and sinew have permitted our aircraft to outstrip the performance of nature’s fliers. Aircraft designers now have little interest in biologically powered flight. In 1976, the need to pay off a large financial obligation incurred by a relative drew my attention to theKremer Prizefor the first sustained, controlled humanpoweredflight ,aprizewhichhad remained unclaimed for 17 years. The correlation betweentheprizeamount,about$lOO,OO@, and the debt amount, about $100,000, proved irresistible. By a lateral thinking process I arrived at a suitable approach for meeting the challenge. Then, with the Gossamer Condor (Fig. 1 ) a year-long ‘hobby’project-our team of friends and family won the prize. The net profit was small, due to expenses, but there were many unanticipated rewards of greater value. Perhaps the most valuable reward, for the outsideworld as well asfor us, the development team, is...

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