Maximum Lift Production During Takeoff in Flying Animals

Abstract

Maximum lift production during takeoff in still air was determined for a wide variety of insects and a small sample of birds and bats, and was compared with variation in morphology, taxonomy and wingbeat type. Maximum lift per unit flight muscle mass was remarkably similar between taxonomic groups (54–63 N kg⁻¹), except for animals using clap-and-fling wingbeats, where muscle mass-specific lift increased by about 25 % (72–86 N kg⁻¹). Muscle mass-specific lift was independent of body mass, wing loading, disk loading and aspect ratio. Birds and bats yielded results indistinguishable from insects using conventional wingbeats. Interspecific differences in short-duration powered flight and takeoff ability are shown to be caused primarily by differences in flight muscle ratio, which ranges from 0.115 to 0.560 among species studied to date. These results contradict theoretical predictions that maximum mass-specific power output and lift production should decrease with increasing body mass and wing disk loading.