Glider questions

[dbensen <dbensen@gotnet.net>]

To everybody,

In the past few days, the thread 'Fliers to Gliders?' has taken on the
aspect of a religious war.  Not that a jihad now and then isn't fin, but
I think there needs to be some sort of constructive conclusion to all
this talk about joint constraints and aerodynamics.  Therefor, I have
organized all of this thread email-by-email, and named the sort of
studies that need to be conducted before we can get an answer.
Therefor, I have put together a list of leading questions that need to
be answered before we can come to any sort of consensus.

Study the "Triassic Feathered animal"
Do early dinosaurs show an increase in weight(but not body size) for
aerodynamic purposes or a decrease as time goes on?
 What is the minimum size that bird wings/tail feathers must be to
effect lift?
 How much better would a quadripedal archosaur (say Terrestrisuchus)
compare to a bipedal archosaur (say Gracilisuchus) in the trees?
 What advantages does bipedalism have over quadripedalism (or vica
versa) ? (hint-treadmills and slow motion cameras)
 Where do pterosaurs fit in with the early dinosaurs/birds/crocodiles?