Swift Flapping and Gliding Flight Efficiency Wind Tunnel Data

Encompassing aerodynamic wake measurements from wind tunnel experiments on common swifts (Apus apus) in flapping and gliding flight. It was created by Per Henningsson and published in 2020 to test hypotheses about wing morphology optimization. The data supports calculations of span efficiency, the efficiency of lift production.

Use Cases

• Compare span efficiency metrics between flapping and gliding flight modes for the common swift.
• Analyze wake structures from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to study aerodynamic differences in flapping flight.
• Model the relationship between wing kinematics and induced drag in flap-gliding species like Apus apus.

Strengths

• Data originates from controlled wind tunnel experiments on a well-known flap-gliding species.
• Includes measurements for both primary avian flight modes: flapping and gliding.
• Published under a permissive CC0 1.0 public domain license.

Limitations

• The sample size is limited to measurements from two individual birds.
• Specific data structure, file formats, and size are unknown.
• Data is from a specific laboratory setting and may not fully represent free-flight conditions.

Provenance

Source

Dryad

Collection Method

Wind tunnel experiments using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) on common swifts.

Freshness

2020-06-24