Referred to here as an ostraciform air ship, developed by LaChLuVe was recently captured at the Airship Regatta in Friedrichshafen, Germany.Although Fin-fish is remotely controlled it uses the principals of locomotion to move and glides through the air propelled by a very natural looking swish of the tail, which also provides steering when holding it in place and gliding. The pectoral fins are servo actuated for additional control.
" While we do not understand all there is to know about how fish swim so effectively we do know that its flexible body plan helps it to greatly reduce the turbulence it creates, and that a swimming fish experiences far less drag, about 10th only, of the drag generated by a rigid model of a fish being propelled at the same speed. Part of the efficiency also comes from the slime that a fish produces, while this is annoying when you are trying to hold a fish it reduces the friction a fish experiences by at least 65%.."
So perhaps we ought to try to make the skins of aircraft greasy ?
Nevertheless the delightful soundtrack that accompanies the Fin-fish video is; Below The Arctic Ocean, by Azhrak.
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