Bird Flight Performance
A Practical Calculation Manual
C. J. Pennycuick(Author)
Oxford University Press
Published on 20. July 1989
Book
Hardback
164 pages
978-0-19-857721-8 (ISBN)
Description
This practical manual has been designed for bird ecologists who need to estimate the amounts of energy used for flight by foraging birds, the distances migrants can fly non-stop and comparisons of wing-flapping and gliding. A disc is included with three basic programs for performance calculations on powered and gliding flight. The calculations in the programs are fully explained with an introduction to scale effects and wake structures as aerodynamical background. The principles of work and power generation by muscles are also covered. Worked examples illustrate ways in which the programs can be applied to biological problems and ways in which experiments or observations can be used to test the accuracy of the predictions.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Oxford
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
38 line drawings, 10 half-tones, glossary, bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Weight
463 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-857721-8 (9780198577218)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Content
The mechanical approach to flight energetics - the aeronautical approach, power required and power available, uses and limitations of the programs; variables needed for flight calculations - dimensions and units, standard measurements, work, power and metabolic rate; power required for horizontal flight - synthesis of the power curve, fuel consumption in relation to distance; BASIC programs for flight calculations - using a pre-recorded program disc; fuel consumed on short and long flights, transferring the programs to other computers, entering the programs from the listings, testing and debugging; the reality behind the power calculations - Reynolds number and the concept of scale, drag and drag coefficient, profile power and the flow around wings, induced power and vortex wakes; gliding performance calculations - fixed span glide polar, gliding performance with variable wing span, soaring; power available from the muscles - work and power output of the myofibrils, power output of aerobic muscles, scaling of power available and power required, cost of maintaining a steady force; example calculations with the BASIC programs - checking program 1 against physiological results; other problems involving fuel consumption, problems involving mechanical power only, gliding and soaring, scale effects with Program 1, further uses of the programs. Appendices: program listings and specimen output; units and dimensions; list of symbols; some properties of the standared atmosphere.