As a guessy estimate, how many kilowatts do you think this animal needs ? 30? 60? 100?

----> http://whatisflike.com/

 

We know from the Gossamer Albatross that human powered flight is possible. The answer is 0.3 hp or 224 Watts. For a flight across the channel that's 2 Snickers bars. Good pilot -- here's your treat.

 

I didn't read any of their stuff, but the lead-in graphics make it look like it is NOT human-powered flight. Probably batteries.

As far as human powered flight is concerned, the best example I know if is the MIT Daedalus Project that flew 71 miles in under four hours from Crete to Santorini. At first they looked for pilots that could power the aircraft for long distance, but eventually concluded that they needed world-class cyclists first and foremost and that they would just have to teach some of them to fly.

 

"Flike is equipped with Lithium Polymer batteries, allowing for around 15-20 minutes of hover flight, that extends towards 30-40 minutes in cruise. the lift is provided by six fixed-pitch, carbon composite rotors, directly driven by individual electric disc motors, resulting in the highest possible efficiency, and zero-emission by design."

Zero-emission my ass. Why can't they admit it's coal powered?

Anyway, my guess is towards the low end, maybe 20-40kW?