A dream first imagined by Leonardo da VincI - the pursuit of a mechanical flapping-wing airplane, or ornithopter, has been a centuries-long pursuit.

More on human-powered flight >

On July 8, 2006, the Toronto Star reported that "Dr. James DeLaurier, an aeronautical engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto's Institute for Aerospace Studies, fulfilled a lifelong dream, seeing his manned mechanical flapping-wing airplane, or ornithopter, fly."

And with the successful flight DeLaurier has been lucky enough to touch what many describe as the Holy Grail of aeronautical design, achieving a place for himself, his team of volunteers and students in aviation history.The flapper, as it's affectionately known, sustained flight over about a third of a kilometre for 14 seconds at about 10:20 am before being hit by a crosswind and almost flipping over, damaging the nose and front wheel on the runway at Downsview Park.

But the flight was long enough to prove DeLaurier's mechanical flapping-wing design for a manned, jet-boosted aircraft works. The successful test flight was longer than the first powered flight by aviation pioneers the Wright brothers in December 1903 that lasted 12 seconds over a windswept beach in North Carolina.

Specifications

An Ornithopter is defined as a heavier-than-air craft designed to achieve flight by flapping its wings.

main collections & exhibits >

Tales from the sky

Like many aeronautical engineers and scientists before him, Dr. Jame DeLaurier has long puzzled over the idea of mechanical flapping-wing flight.

"It is a perfect day," he said after the flight. "If I have the big one now, I'll die happy." the ornithopter, which looks like a cross between an old-fashioned plane and a Canada goose, took off and flew about two metres in the air. "I hadn't planned on this taking most of my career, but I don't regret it," said DeLaurier. "It has been exciting and interesting."