Lift and power requirements in flight in a dragonfly

The lift and power requirements of a model dragonfly in forward flight are studied, using the method of numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The graph of power against flight speed is U-shaped, suggesting that a dragonfly might have a preferred cruising speed. Considerable variation in the relative phase between fore- and hindwings results in only very small change in power requirement. This suggests theat the forewing-hingwing interaction is weak and furthermore, might explain why phase angles ranging from to are employed by dragonflies in hovering and forward flight.