WATTS ornithopter (Alfred H. Watts, Coventry, Warwickshire)

   Watts made several versions of his manpowered, flapping-wing machine after studying bird flight from 1900. His No.l, built in 1906, was a failure. No.2, which followed in 1911, was covered by patent, and was reported to have performed a bouncing type of lifting motion in the owner's garden. This machine had a bamboo framework and was propelled by horizontal levers in a similar way to the oars of a rowing boat.
   No.3 was preceded by further model tests and did not materialize until 1920. This machine of bat-like design was reported to have flown 150 yards following a running takeoff from the brow of a bridge near Stoke, Coventry in March 1920.
   L.G. Watts, grandson of A.H. Watts, an instructor at the Coventry Gliding Club, also experimented with this type of machine in 1956.