Lift and power in fruitflies in vertically-ascending flight

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We measured the wing kinematics of fruitflies in both vertically-ascending and hovering flights and studied the aerodynamic forces and power in the two flight modes. The average ascending velocity is 0.45 m s−1; the stroke plane angle and the stroke frequency are the same as that in hovering flight, whilst the stroke amplitude is increased by 12% and the wing angle of attack in the latter half of a down- and upstroke both increased by 10%. Flow analysis shows that during ascending, the flies experience a downward inflow which reduces the effective angle of attack considerably. This problem is overcome by the increases in the stroke amplitude and the angle of attack, which result in a larger wing drag. As a result, the power at ascending is increased by 36% over that at hovering. Two very interesting observations were made. (1) Using the same power, level-forward flight can be about four times as fast as ascending flight. (2) Power for ascending flight is the same as that for carrying a load about 27% of the insect’s weight at hovering.