• Question: Why cant we fly?

    Asked by 235689jack to Amy, Karen, Sarah, Vijay, Will on 15 Jun 2012.
    • Photo: Amy Birch

      Amy Birch answered on 15 Jun 2012:

      Hi Jack,
      That’s a great question!
      The simple answer is that we are too big & heavy. People have calculated from looking at bird wingspans that for an average 70kg male to be able fly, they would have to have a wingspan of over 7 meters! This would be too heavy for our muscles to cope with and have enough power to even take off or flap.

      The reason birds can fly is because their bones are very different to ours, a lot of them they are actually hollow with crossing struts to keep strength. This means they are incredibly light-weight. Birds also have very strong muscles and specially adapted bones around their ribcage and collarbone.
      Birds also have a special respiratory system that is adapted to give them enough oxygen during flight because it is very energetically demanding. So even if we had hollow bones, and made artificial wings big enough for us to use, we’d probably get too tired too quickly to fly very far.

      Of course, we actually can fly – we just have to get in a plane or helicopter to do it 🙂

    • Photo: Karen Reed

      Karen Reed answered on 15 Jun 2012:

      Because we’ve not got wings… but we can fly if we get in a plain or helicopter 😉

      For a better answer – read what Amy’s written

    • Photo: Sarah Martin

      Sarah Martin answered on 17 Jun 2012:

      …planes, gliders, parachutes, choppers, space shuttles, paragliders, rockets… we’ve found a few ways to make up for being heavy and stuck down by gravity!

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