Do the Wing-Tips Matter for Flight?
Whether the up-and-down bending of the wing-tips is needed to fly
Two brief notes probe the role of the wing-tips. One links greater bending of the wing to greater speed at the same instant; the other asks whether the up-and-down flexing of the tips is necessary for flight, observing that cutting even a little from the tips almost prevents a bird from flying. On the right are two small front-view sketches of a bird with wings spread and, beneath them, two line profiles marking the wing-tips.
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Wing-bending and speed
The more the wing bends, the greater the bird's speed at that same moment. The two are treated as rising together.
Are the wing-tips necessary to fly?
The note asks what difference lies between the wing-tips bending and not bending, and whether their upward and downward flexing is necessary to flight. It observes that however little is cut from these tips, flight is almost forbidden to the birds.
Two bird figures and wing-tip profiles
To the right are two small front-view sketches of a bird with wings spread, and below them two horizontal line profiles marked with small knobs at their ends, giving the outline of the wing-tips referred to in the note.