Kinematics and Aerodynamics of Backward Flying Dragonflies

Highly maneuverable insects such as dragonflies have a wide range of flight capabilities; precise hovering, fast body reorientations, sideways flight and backward takeoff are only a few to mention. In this research, we closely examined the kinematics as well as aerodynamics of backward takeoff in dragonflies and compared them to those of forward takeoff. High speed videography and accurate 3D surface reconstruction techniques were employed to extract details of the wing and body motions as well as deformations during both flight modes. While the velocities of both forward and backward flights were similar, the body orientation as well as the wing kinematics showed large differences. Our results indicate that by tilting the stroke plane angle of the wings as well as changing the orientation of the body relative to the flight path, dragonflies control the direction of the flight like a helicopter. In addition, our detailed analysis of the flow in these flights shows important differences in the wake capture phenomena among these flight modes.