Flying like a bird

If God had meant for man to fly, he would have apparently given him a Wii before this.

A Dutch engineer has -- if you can believe what your eyes see on YouTube -- made it off the ground flapping bird-like wings.

While Jarno Smeets did not respond to an interview request by QMI Agency, he wrote in a press release that while it was assumed it was impossible for a human to fly like a bird, he added bits of modern technology to give him the extra oomph to move his 17.2-metre artificial wings. He claims his contraption includes two Wii controllers and parts from a HTC Wildfire S smartphone.Together, they created a robotic extension to his arms.The wings, he explained, are fashioned from kite and carbon windsurf masts.

"Ever since I was a little boy I have been inspired by pioneers like (German aviation pioneer) Otto Lilienthal, Leonardo da Vinci and also my own grandfather," he wrote in a press release, boasting the March 18 liftoff was prompted by sketches from his grandfather.

The remarkable -- if true -- video was apparently shot in a park in The Hague.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/03/21/real-flying-or-just-good-lying