SUMMARY: Dynamic soaring is a small-scale flight manoeuvre which is the basis for the extreme flight performance of albatrosses and other large seabirds to travel huge distances in sustained non-flapping flight. As experimental data with sufficient resolution of th ese small-scale movements are not available, knowledge is lacking about dynamic soaring and the physical mechanism of the energy gain of the bird from the wind. With new in-house developments of GPS logging units for recording raw phase observations and of a dedicated mathematical method for postprocessing these measurements, it was possible to determine the small-scale flight manoeuvre with the required high precision. Experimental results from tracking 16 wandering albatrosses (Diomedea exulans) in the southern Indian Ocean show the characteristic pattern of dynamic soaring. This pattern consists of four flight phases comprising a windward climb, an upper curve, a leeward descent and a lower curve, which are continually repeated. It is shown that the primary energy gain from the shear wind is attained in the upper curve where the bird changes the flight direction from windward to leeward. As a result, the upper curve is the characteristic flight phase of dynamic soaring for achieving the energy gain necessary for sustained non-flapping flight.

The power required by flapping and fixed wing vehicles in level flight is determined and compared. Based on a new modelling approach, the effects of flapping on the induced drag in flapping wing vehicles are mathematically described. It is shown that flapping causes a significant increase in the induced drag when compared with a non-flapping, fixed wing vehicle. There are two effects for that induced drag increase; one is due to tilting of the lift vector caused by flapping the wings and the other results from changes in the amount of the lift vector during flapping. The induced drag increase yields a significant contribution to the power required by flapping wing vehicles. Furthermore, the power characteristics of fixed wing vehicles are dealt with. It is shown that, for this vehicle type, the propeller efficiency plays a major role. This is because there are considerable differences in the propeller efficiency when taking the size of vehicles into account. Comparing flapping and fixed wing vehicles, the conditions are shown where flapping wing vehicles have a lower power demand and where fixed wing vehicles are superior regarding the required power. There is a tendency such that fixed wing vehicles have an advantage in the case of larger size vehicles and flapping wing vehicles have an advantage in the case of smaller size ones.

Kinetic energy concepts used for dynamic soaring are dealt with and analyzed with regard to their validity and usefulness. One kinetic energy concept is related to inertial speed and the other to airspeed. Using their common basis given by the fundamental equations of motion, each of the two kinetic energy concepts is developed and evaluated. It is shown for both concepts which are the forces that exert an energetic effect and how they influence the kinetic energy state. This is achieved with findings generally valid and with results obtained by computation. In a comparative analysis, both kinetic energy concepts are discussed and assessed, with the result that they are complementary to each other and of equal significance for describing energy harvesting. As a result, it is shown that the concepts of kinetic energy related to airspeed and to inertial speed are equivalent. Thus, both kinetic energy concepts are useful to the effect that the findings and results are of equal value.