XLAB International Science Camp

Welcome to all potential participants and interested readers!

Beginning in 2003, in 2011 the ISC took place for the nineth time, and each year also the course Physics of Flying was offered. For the details of forthcoming camps you are referred to the XLAB website. Here, a quick overview of the course is presented. 

• The Lecturer

The course is held by Wolfgang Send, theoretical physicist in the field of aerodynamics and structural mechanics at the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) until October 2009. Contributing to modern concepts for teaching aerodynamics in several publications, he has developed the course since 2003. He is committed to animal-flight research more than ever, and recently he developed with a small team an artificial bird based on the theoretical concept of active torsion with unprecedented agility (link leads to its flight performance, 1:48 min). A movie introduces to the SmartBird project ("Birdflight deciphered", 18 min; produced by the FESTO company's Bionic Learning Network which financed the project).  

• The Course - Competence and Knowledge

Knowledge. The course covers the basic phenomena of flying in nature and of the foundations of aeronautical sciences. The key subjects are

• the force balance of weight and lift and of drag and thrust, demonstrated by a wing model and by a model aeroplane,

• the mechanism of propulsion in animal flight, shown by an artificial bird of almost one meter span in tethered flight, and

• the notable flutter phenomenon of an airplane wing, in which - above a certain speed limit - power is extracted extremely fast from the surrounding air-stream, with the potential of destroying the airplane.

The course introduces to basic skills performing measurements in Aerodynamics. Among others, it is composed of exercises with the test stand ANIPROP RL3 and its components (the link leads to a description of its scientific basis). During the last few years, a glossary was set out collecting a host of questions which were touched on. The XLAB_ISC_Glossary (0.8 MB) is kind of knowledge base for the next courses. Besides learning a few things about birds and planes, you will be challenged every day.

Competence. The course trains you

• to carry out various experiments with fluids (that's air and water),

• to deal with laboratory equipment like power supplies, oscilloscopes and electronic data acquisition,

• to evaluate acquired data and assess the results,

• to work out short presentations every day on new subjects and on your measurements and observations, and

• to give a presentation with a laptop or using flip charts: clear, concise and considerate to the audience.

Last, but not least: To have fun with each other! Wolfgang Send is very much looking forward to guide you to the physics behind birds and planes.

• The Experiments

The windtunnel ANIPROP KWK2 for the  measurement of drag and lift:




The thrust experiment using an airbearing for frictionless motion of the flapping wings:



The laboratory with the test stand RL3 carrying a lifting plate: