American Harry LaVerne Twining built himself a man powered ornithopter, likely with the assistance of Warren Samuel Eaton. Completed around the summer of 1909 and first appearing in the October 1909 issue of Aeronautics it was tested late in 1909.
It consisted of a tricycle to which articulated 8.2 m (27 ft) wings, operated by foot stirrups, were attached. The Los Angeles Daily Times dubbed it ‘Twining’s Flip Flop’ and assured worried readers that Twining did not intend to rise far from the ground at first, which was just as well because the flip flop was a complete flop, flapping furiously along a Los Angeles street but barely rising an inch.
As President of the Aero Club of California, Twining entered his second ornithopter into the 1910 Los Angeles International Air Meet at Dominguez Field.
All Aero 