Ornithopter!

[robkelk]

Canadian know-how triumphs again!

(Pity it seems to be named after an Anne Murray song...)
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

[Logan Darklighter]

I hate to be a skeptic, because this looks pretty damn cool, but - 

It was towed into the air and flew for just under 19.3 seconds. How much of that was just pure gliding and how much was due to any thrust from the wings flapping? I'd like to know if a control flight was made without the pilot pedaling/wing flapping to see if there was a difference? Mind, this is probably just a test flight to make sure things don't immediately fall apart and all. I rather expect them to make more flights if this really works, and THEN it'll be more impressive. 

[jpub]

I'm with Logan. I'll consider this valid if they can take off and/or provide some sort of useful flight.

[Bob Schroeck]

Given that the first Kitty Hawk flight managed to stay in the air only 12 seconds, I'm not about to discount the possibility that they did it because they "only" flew or 19.

The article notes that the flight was witnessed by "a Canadian official of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) - the body responsible for authenticating aviation records, first flights and the like"; presumably the FAI certified it as a genuine flight and not a glide -- if they have a website, that certification is probably there. If they didn't, I can't see why they would mention said official in the first paragraph.

As for your other points, maybe some of them will be addressed when they post the engineering details on their website, per the article. Until then, given that this is the result of a decades-long program at an engineering school (and not, say, some Joe Poutine working out of his basement), I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to control flights, air tunnel tests, and the other necessary minutiae of aircraft design.

-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.