Why can't I fly like a bird?

Let me preface this post by saying that I have no engineering background and have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about - I’m merely speculating and pontificating, using personal flight as an example.

The journey of flight - short-version

For the longest time, humans attempted to fly by mimicking birds. For example, the great Leonardo da Vinci drew several mock-ups of a bird-like apparatus that he was confident could lead to human flight. While many correctly surmised that human weight and muscle strength were limiting factors in human replication of bird’s flying style, it wasn’t until the late 19th century when we really understood Bernoulli’s principle and how it might allow for flight. The rest, as they say, is history. The Wright brothers successfully created the first plane, and we’ve been on the road to today’s 777 and 787’s ever since. 

Time to revisit?

In the 100+ years since humans achieved flight, we’ve become what I think is too path-dependent. Once we start down a path, I believe as a society, we stop thinking “outside the box” and instead focus on innovating within the path we’re on. The best aerospace engineers think about how to make the plane more aerodynamic, faster, accommodate more passengers, bigger, safer etc. But they stop thinking about how we actually achieve flight!

I’ve talked to several engineers, and none have been able to convince me why personal flight in the manner of birds is not possible with 21st century technology. With nanotechnology making fabrics stronger and lighter than ever before, and motors that are increasingly powerful and compact, why can’t we revisit the concept of bird-like flight? “We weigh too much”. Pterodactyls flew at weights similar to ours (we think) in the Jurassic; if a motor could power wings flapping at the rate necessary to generate lift, I see no reason why we couldn’t glide and fly in a manner similar to birds. I envision myself strapping on a suit with an attached set of wings, holding on to a joystick that controls the rate of flapping and the tilt of the wings.

Again, probably not possible - what do I know? All I’ll say is this - the best minds in aerospace are not thinking about these things…I don’t know the answer, but I wish there was a way to revisit old methods of thinking periodically so we could break out of this cycle of path dependence. Because as much fun as a Boeing 777 is, I’ve always dreamed of flying like a bird.