How Flying squirrel Inspired Membrane Wing Aircraft and Wingsuits

Glaucomys sabrinus · Animal · North American coniferous and mixed forests

What if the solution to lift from a membrane wing had already been perfected — by a flying squirrel over 50 million years of evolution?

The Natural Innovation

The flying squirrel glides up to 90 meters by extending a skin membrane (patagium) between its front and hind legs. It steers with its tail and adjusts membrane tension mid-glide, landing on vertical tree trunks with precision. The patagium folds away completely when not in use.

The flying squirrel lives in North American coniferous and mixed forests.

In the language of biomimicry, this falls under the Move › Generate unpowered lift category.

The Design Principle

A tensioned membrane wing between limbs creates lift through glide rather than powered flight, achieves precise steering through differential tension, and collapses to near-zero drag when not in use.

Human Applications

Wingsuits for base jumping and skydiving, compact deployable parachute systems, and flexible membrane wing designs for micro air vehicles (MAVs) that fold for storage.

Real-world implementations include: Squirrel suit wingsuit design, membrane wing MAVs (Stanford AFOSR research), compact deployable aerodynamic systems.

Source: AskNature.org