TED2003
Paul MacCready: A flight on solar wings
保罗 麦克柯罗迪用太阳能飞行
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保罗 麦克柯罗迪—— 飞行器设计师，环境保护主义者， 毕生热爱飞行——和大家讲述他的职业生涯。
Paul MacCready - Engineer
Paul MacCready, an aircraft designer and environmentalist, is a pioneer of human-powered flight, alternative energy for transportation, and environmentally responsible design. Full bio
Paul MacCready, an aircraft designer and environmentalist, is a pioneer of human-powered flight, alternative energy for transportation, and environmentally responsible design. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:27
I am known best for human-powered flight,
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我是由人力飞行器成名的，
00:32
but that was just one thing that got me going
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但这只是一个开始
00:37
in the sort of things that I'm working in now.
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后来我还做了很多其他的项目。
00:41
As a youngster, I was very interested in model airplanes,
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年少时我对模型飞机很感兴趣，
00:47
ornithopters, autogyros, helicopters, gliders, power planes,
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像是扑翼飞机啦，旋翼飞机啦，直升机，滑翔机，螺旋桨机，
00:53
indoor models, outdoor models, everything,
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室内玩的室外玩的，什么都有。
00:56
which I just thought was a lot of fun,
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我当时只是觉得好玩，
00:59
and wondered why most other people didn't share my same enthusiasm with them.
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当然也好奇为什么大多数人对它们不感冒。
01:07
And then, navy pilot training, and, after college,
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后来我接受了海军里的飞行训练，大学后，
01:13
I got into sailplane flying, power plane flying,
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我开始飞滑翔机，螺旋桨飞机，
01:17
and considered the sailplanes as a sort of hobby and fun,
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我把飞滑翔机当成是一个兴趣，
01:25
but got tangled up with some great professor types,
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但是也接触了一些专家，
01:29
who convinced me and everybody else in the field
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他们说服我和业界的其他人，
01:34
that this was a good way to get into really deep science.
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滑翔机正是深入研究空气动力科学的入门之道。
01:39
While this was all going on, I was in the field of weather modification,
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当时我在做改良气候的工作，
01:45
although getting a Ph.D. in aeronautics.
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虽然后来在航空学拿到了博士。
01:49
The weather modification subject was getting started,
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那时改良气候的计划刚刚起步，
01:53
and as a graduate student,
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我还是研究生，
01:55
I could go around to the various talks that were being given,
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搭便车在东海岸到处跑，
01:59
on a hitchhiker ride to the East Coast,
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到处听报告。
02:01
and so on. And everybody would talk to me,
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人人都乐意和我接触，
02:04
but all the professionals in the field hated each other,
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但是同行皆敌手，
02:07
and they wouldn't communicate. And as a result,
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他们自己之间都没有交流。结果，
02:10
I got the absolutely unique background in that field,
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我反而得到了独一无二的背景知识，
02:15
and started a company, which did more research
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还成立了一个公司，做气候改良的研究，
02:19
in weather modification than anybody,
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比谁成果都多。
02:23
and there are a lot of things that I just can't go into.
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但也有很多事我没时间去研究。
02:29
But then, 1971 started AeroVironment, with no employees --
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那时，1971年AeroVironment成立了，从无到有，
02:35
then one or two, three,
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从小变大，
02:37
and sort of fumbled along on trying to get interesting projects.
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摸索着做了很多有意思的项目。
02:41
We had AirDynamisis,
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我们招了一些空气动力学家
02:43
who, like I, did not want to work for aerospace companies
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他们和我一样，并不想替航空航天工业做事情，
02:48
on some big, many year project,
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不想参与大型的，做很多年的项目，
02:52
and so we did our small projects, and the company slowly grew.
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所以我们做了一系列小项目，公司成长缓慢。
03:01
The thing that is exciting was, in 1976,
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1976年令人兴奋的事情发生了，
03:06
I suddenly got interested in the human-powered airplane
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我突然开始对人力飞行器感兴趣。
03:11
because I'd made a made a loan to a friend of 100,000 dollars,
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因为我帮朋友向银行借了十万美元，
03:15
or I guaranteed the money at the bank.
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在银行做他的担保，
03:17
He needed them -- he needed the money for starting a company.
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因为他需要钱开公司。
03:21
The company did not succeed, and he couldn't pay the money back,
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但是公司砸了，他也没钱还银行，
03:24
and I was the guarantor of the note. So, I had a $100,000 debt,
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因为我是担保人，这十万美元的债就是我的了。
03:29
and I noticed that the Kramer prize for human-powered flight,
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我发现给人力飞机有个Kramer奖，
03:35
which had then been around for -- (Laughter) --
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这个奖项已经设立有
03:39
17 years at the time, was 50,000 pounds,
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十七年了，积累了五万英镑，
03:42
which, at the exchange rate, was just about 100,000 dollars.
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兑换下来，正好是差不多十万美元。
03:46
So suddenly, I was interested in human-powered flight --
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所以突然一下子人力飞行器变得可爱了。
03:49
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）
03:52
and did not -- the way I approached it, first,
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最初我试的方法是，
03:58
thinking about ways to make the planes,
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试着做飞机，
04:01
was just like they'd been doing in England, and not succeeding,
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就像是他们在英国试着做但是没成功的，
04:06
and I gave it up. I figured, nah, there isn't any simple, easy way.
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我也放弃了。我知道是没有捷径的。
04:10
But then, got off on a vacation trip, and was studying bird flight,
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后来我做了个度假旅行，学了一些鸟类飞行的知识，
04:16
just for the fun of it,
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纯粹是感兴趣而已。
04:18
and you can watch a bird soaring around in circles,
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你能观察一只鸟打圈飞翔。
04:21
and measure the time, and estimate the bank angle,
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测量时间，估计倾斜角，
04:25
and immediately, figure out its speed,
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马上就能知道它的速度，
04:28
and the turning radius, and so on,
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转弯半径什么的。
04:31
which I could do in the car, as we're driving along on a vacation trip --
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我在去度假旅行的路上，开车的时候就玩这个。
04:36
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）
04:38
with my three sons, young sons, helping me,
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同行的有我的三个儿子，都还年轻，帮着我，
04:42
but ridiculing the whole thing very much.
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但是他们也觉得挺滑稽的。
04:46
But that began thinking about how birds went around,
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但我开始思考鸟类是怎么飞的，
04:51
and then how airplanes would, how hang gliders would fly,
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那么飞机，滑翔机又应该怎么飞呢，
04:58
and then other planes,
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别的飞机该怎么飞呢，
05:00
and the idea of the Gossamer-Condor-type airplane quickly emerged,
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很快地模仿戈萨默秃鹰的飞机就设计出来了，
05:06
was so logical, one should have thought of it in the first place,
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这是多么合逻辑，我们早该想到了。
05:09
but one didn't. And it was just, keep the weight down --
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但我们没有（想到模仿鸟）。其实只要保持飞机很轻，
05:13
70 pounds was all it weighed -- but let the size swell up, like a hang glider,
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整个飞机是70磅，再把飞机做大，像是滑翔机翼的样子，
05:20
but three times the span, three times the cord.
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但是是滑翔机翼的三倍宽，三倍长，
05:22
You're down to a third of the speed, a third of the power,
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你只需要三分之一的速度就能飞，三分之一的动力，
05:25
and a good bicyclist can put out that power, and that worked,
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一个好的自行车运动员就能踩出这样的动力。这样就成功了。
05:32
and we won the prize a year later.
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我们一年后拿了那个奖，
05:37
We didn't -- a lot of flying, a lot of experiments, a lot of things that didn't work,
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那么多的试飞，那么多的实验，那么多的努力都没成，
05:43
and ones that did work, and the plane kept getting a little better, a little better.
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只有一个成了，那个飞机变得越来越完美。
05:48
Got a good pilot, Brian Allen, to operate it,
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我们请了一个很好的飞行员，布莱恩 亚伦来驾驶，
05:51
and finally, succeeded. But unfortunately,
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最后成功了，但不幸的是，
05:55
about 65,000 dollars was spent on the project.
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做这个项目花了六万五千美元。
05:59
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
06:01
And there was only about 30 to help retire the debt.
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只剩了三万还债，
06:05
But fortunately, Henry Kramer, who put up the prize for --
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幸运的是，Henry Kramer， 那个奖的设立者，
06:09
that was a one-mile flight -- put up a new prize
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又设了一个奖 （之前的是飞一英里的奖），
06:11
for flying the English Channel, 21 miles.
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征人飞越英吉利海峡，二十一英里宽，
06:14
And he thought it would take another 18 years for somebody to win that.
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他以为要等到另一个十八年后才会有人得这个奖。
06:18
We realized that if you just cleaned up our Gossamer Condor a little bit,
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我们意识到，只要对我们的秃鹰号稍加改进，
06:24
the power to fly would be decreased a little bit,
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飞行需要的动力就会变小一点，
06:28
and if you decrease the power required a little,
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如果动力需求能变小一点点，
06:31
the pilot can fly a much longer period of time.
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飞行员能坚持的时间就长得多。
06:34
And Brian Allen was able, in a miraculous flight,
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结果布莱恩 亚伦真的创造了奇迹，
06:38
to get the Gossamer Albatross across the English Channel,
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把秃鹰号飞越了英吉利海峡，
06:42
and we won the 100,000-pound, 200,000-dollar prize for that.
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我们又赢了二十万，十万英镑，二十万美元。
06:49
And when all expenses were paid, the debt was handled, and everything was fine.
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这样所有的成本都回来了，债也还清了，皆大欢喜。
06:57
It turned out that giving the planes to the museum
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后来我发现原来把飞机捐给博物馆，
07:00
was worth much more than the debt,
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不光能还债还有余。
07:04
so for five years, six years, I only had to pay one third income tax.
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因为接下来的五六年里，我都只用交三分之一的所得税。
07:11
So, there were good economic reasons for the project, but --
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所以这个项目非常值。
07:16
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）
07:19
that's not, well, the project was done entirely for economic reasons,
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当然了，做这个计划是奔钱去的，
07:26
and we have not been involved in any human-powered flight since then --
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我们之后再也没有做过和人力飞行器相关的东西。
07:30
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）
07:32
because the prizes are all over.
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没奖金了么。
07:36
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
07:37
But that sure started me thinking about various things,
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但这个计划也启发了我，
07:41
and immediately, we began making a solar-powered plane
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马上我们就开始做太阳能飞机。
07:46
because we felt solar power was going to be so important
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因为我们意识到对整个国家，整个世界，
07:49
for the country and the world,
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太阳能会变得很重要。
07:51
we didn't want the small funding in the government to be decreased,
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我们不希望政府进一步缩减本来稀薄的基金，
07:56
which is what the government was trying to do with it.
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这样的情况正在发生，
07:58
And we thought a solar-powered plane wouldn't really make sense,
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我们认为太阳能飞机其实不是真有用，
08:03
but you could do it and it would get a lot of publicity for solar power
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但是如果我们做成了，公众对太阳能会有更高的认同，
08:07
and maybe help that field.
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我们就能帮助这个领域（发展下去）。
08:09
And that project continued, did succeed,
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这个计划进行了下去，也成功了。
08:13
and we then got into other projects in aviation
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我们接下来又在航空学方面做了其他的课题，
08:19
and mechanical things and ground devices.
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机械方面的，地面设施等等。
08:27
But while this was going on,
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在进行这些研究时，
08:30
in 1982, I got a prize from the Lindbergh Foundation --
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1982年，我得了一个林伯赫奖——
08:35
their annual prize --
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是个每年都有的奖——
08:37
and I had to prepare a paper on it,
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我得准备一篇演讲，
08:41
which collected all my varied thoughts
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包括多年来
08:44
and varied interests over the years.
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所有我的千奇百怪的点子和我的兴趣所在。
08:46
This was the one chance that I had to focus on what I, really, was after,
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这是头一次我仔细想清楚我在追求什么，
08:51
and what was important. And to my surprise,
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什么对我是重要的。令我惊讶的是，
08:55
I realized the importance of environmental issues,
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我发现环境问题是非常重要的。
09:00
which Charles Lindbergh devoted the last third of his life to,
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查理 林伯赫 后半生都在致力于环境事业。
09:05
and preparing that paper did me a lot of good.
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准备这篇演讲对我很有帮助。
09:11
I thought back about if I was a space traveler,
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我想象如果我是星际旅行家，
09:14
and came and visited Earth every 5,000 years.
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每五千年来地球旅行一次，
09:17
And for a few thousand visits, I would see the same thing every time,
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头几千次的访问，我看到的是同样的东西，
09:24
the little differences in the Earth.
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地球没有什么变化。
09:26
But this last time, just coming round, right now,
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但是这最后一次访问，如果是现在，
09:30
suddenly, there'd be huge changes in the environment,
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突然间环境改变了很多，
09:35
in the concentration of people,
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到处都是人，
09:38
and it was just unbelievable, the amount of -- all the change in it.
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这简直是不可思议，多少事情变化了。
09:50
I wanted to -- well, one of the biggest changes is, 200 years ago,
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我想，最大的变化之一是两百年前，
09:55
we began using coal from underground, which has a lot of pollution,
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我们开始掘煤燃煤，导致了很多污染，
10:01
and 100 years ago, began getting gasoline from underground,
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另外一百年前，我们开始开采石油，
10:05
with a lot of pollution. And gasoline consumption, or production,
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也导致了很多污染，石油开采，或者说石油生产，
10:11
will reach its limit in about ten years, and then go down,
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将在十年之后达到顶峰，之后只能走下坡，
10:16
and we wonder what's going to happen with transportation.
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我不知道将来我们要怎么交通。
10:22
I wanted to show the slide --
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我想放一个幻灯片——
10:25
this slide, I think, is the most important one any of you will see, ever, because --
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这张，是最最重要的一张幻灯，是你们有生以来最重要的。
10:34
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
10:36
(Applause) --
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（掌声）
10:39
it shows nature versus humans, and goes from 1850 to 2050.
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因为这张幻灯展示了自然和人类的关系，从1850年到2050年。
10:46
And so, the year 2000, you see there.
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在2000年，你能看到，
10:49
And this is the weight of all air and land vertebrates.
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这是有多少空中和陆地上的脊椎动物。
10:54
Humans and muskrats and giraffes and birds and so on, are --
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人类，麝鼠，长颈鹿，鸟类，等等——
10:59
the red line goes up. That's the humans and livestock and pets portion.
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红线持续上升，这是人类，牲畜和家养动物。
11:06
The green line goes down. That's the wild nature portion.
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绿线持续下降，这是野生动物。
11:10
Humans, livestock and pets are, now, 98 percent of the total world's mass
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人类，牲畜和宠物现在占了全世界空中和陆地上的
11:16
of vertebrates on land and air.
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脊椎动物的百分之九十八，
11:19
And you don't know what the future will hold,
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未来还不知道会怎么样，
11:22
but it's not going to get a lower percentage.
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但是这个百分比是不会下降的。
11:26
Ten thousand years ago, the humans and livestock and pets
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一万年前，人类，牲畜和宠物，
11:30
were not even one tenth of one percent
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还不到百分之零点一，
11:32
and wouldn't even have been visible on such a curve.
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在这张图上根本看不见。
11:36
Now they are 98 percent, and it, I think, shows human domination of the Earth.
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现在已经是百分之九十八了，这一现象，我认为，说明了人类主宰了地球。
11:47
I give a talk to some remarkable high school students each summer,
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每年夏天我都会给一些天才高中生演讲，
11:54
and ask them, after they've asked me questions,
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我会给他们出题，在他们问了我问题，
11:57
and I give them a talk and so on. Then I ask them questions.
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我讲了课之后，我会给他们出道题：
12:01
What's the population of the Earth?
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世界上有多少人口?
12:03
What's the population of the Earth going to be
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当你到了你父母现在的年纪，
12:05
when you're the age of your parents?
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世界上又会有多少人？
12:07
Which I'd never, really -- they had never, really, thought about
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这是我从来没有——他们也从没想过的问题。
12:09
but, now, they think about it.
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但是现在他们得好好想想。
12:11
And then, what population of the Earth would be an equilibrium
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接下来，什么时候世界人口会到达平衡，
12:18
that could continue on, and be for 2050, 2100, 2150?
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持续不变，一直到2050年，2100年，或是2150年？
12:24
And they form little groups, all fighting with each other,
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他们分成小组，互相辩论，
12:27
and when I leave, two hours later,
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我两小时后回来，
12:29
most of them are saying about 2 billion people,
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大多数人认为二十亿人口（是平衡点）。
12:33
and they don't have any clue about how to get down to 2 billion,
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但是他们不知道怎么控制人口在二十亿。
12:38
nor do I, but I think they're right and this is a serious problem.
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我也不知道。但是他们是对的，这是个严重问题。
12:46
Rachel Carson was thinking of these, and came out with "Silent Spring," way back.
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瑞秋 卡森很久前就考虑过这个问题，写了“寂静的春天”一书。
12:53
"Solar Manifesto" by Hermann Scheer, in Germany,
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德国赫曼 施齐尔的“太阳的宣言”一书
12:57
claims all energy on Earth can be derived, for every country,
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宣称全世界所有国家需要的能源，
13:02
from solar energy and water, and so on.
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都能从太阳能和水能等等能源中获得。
13:10
You don't need to dig down for these chemicals,
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你不需要开采别的化学物质，
13:13
and we can do things much more efficiently.
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我们还能更有效率的得到能源。
13:17
Let's have the next slide.
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让我们看看下一张幻灯。
13:19
So this just summarizes it. "Over billions of years,
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这张是个总结：“亿万年来，
13:22
on a unique sphere, chance has painted a thin covering of life --
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机遇在这个独一无二的星球上，薄薄地涂了一层生命，
13:25
complex and probable, wonderful and fragile.
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复杂而充满机遇，伟大而精巧易碎。
13:28
Suddenly, we humans, a recently arrived species,
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突然间，我们人类，刚刚降临，
13:31
no longer subject to the checks and balances inherent in nature,
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不愿臣服于自然的控制和平衡之下，
13:35
have grown in population, technology and intelligence
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疯狂扩张着人口，科技和智慧，
13:38
to a position of terrible power. We, now, wield the paintbrush."
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拥有了可怕的权力。我们，现在，执掌了画笔。”
13:42
We're in charge. It's frightening.
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我们掌权了，多么可怕。
13:46
And I do a painting every 20 or 25 years. This is the last one.
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每二十年二十五年我都试着画画，这是最近的一张。
13:51
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
13:53
And [it] shows the Earth in a time flag: on the right,
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这个是地球，右边展示了不同的时期，
13:57
in trilobites and dinosaurs and so on;
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有三叶虫，恐龙什么的，
14:00
and over the triangle, we now get to civilization and TV
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三角形上，开始有人类社会，有电视
14:05
and traffic jams and so on.
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有交通堵塞等等。
14:07
I have no idea of what comes next,
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我不知道接下来会是什么，
14:10
so I just used robotic and natural cockroaches as the future,
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所以我用了机器蟑螂和自然界的蟑螂，来表示未来，
14:15
as a little warning.
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就当时敲一个警钟。
14:17
And two weeks after this drawing was done,
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这幅画完成两周后，
14:20
we actually had our first project contract, at AeroVironment,
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我们公司，接到了第一个项目，第一个合同，
14:24
on robotic cockroaches, which was very frightening to me.
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是需要机器蟑螂的，把我吓了一跳。
14:29
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
14:31
(Paper rustling)
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（纸张沙沙声）
14:34
Well, that'll be all the slides.
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好的，这是我们今天所有的幻灯——
14:41
As time went on, we stopped our environmental programs.
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时间流逝，我们不再做环境保护的课题了，
14:44
We focused more on the really serious energy problems
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我们开始更多聚焦在真正严重的问题上，
14:49
of the future, and we produced products for the company.
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未来的能源问题。我们为一些公司做产品，
14:56
And we developed the impact car that General Motors made,
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还给通用公司研发了电瓶车。
15:01
the EV1, out of --
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叫做EV1，
15:04
and got the Air Resources Board to have the regulations
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我们还促使空气资源委员会制定了规则
15:11
that stimulated the electric cars, but they've since come apart.
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促使电瓶车的应用，可惜它们没能持久。
15:15
And we've done a lot of things, small drone airplanes and so on.
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我们做了很多项目，小型无人驾驶飞机等等。
15:22
I have a Helios. We have the first video.
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我有一个“太阳神号”——我们这里有录像——
15:29
(Video) Narrator: With a wingspan of 247 feet, this makes her larger than a Boeing 747.
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解说员：装备了247英尺宽的翅膀，这飞机比波音747还大。
15:34
(Music)
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（音乐）
15:43
Her designers' attention to detail and her construction
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它的设计师对细节和设计的注重，
15:46
gives Helios' structure the flexibility and strength
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使太阳神号的结构具有足够的柔韧性和强度，
15:49
to deal with the turbulence encountered in the atmosphere.
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来应付大气中的涡流。
15:52
This enables her to easily ride through the air currents
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这使得它很轻松地在气流中飞翔，
15:55
as if she's sliding along on the ocean waves.
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就像它在浪尖上滑行一样。
15:58
Paul MacCready: The wings could touch together on top and not break. We think.
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保罗 麦克柯罗迪：这对翅膀能在上方碰到一起也不会折断，至少我们相信。
16:03
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
16:06
Narrator: And Helios now begins the process of turning her back to the sun,
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解说员：太阳神号现在开始把反面转向太阳，
16:09
to maximize the power from her solar array.
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以便从太阳能板获得最大限度的能源。
16:12
(Music)
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（音乐）
16:20
As the sky gets darker, and the outside air temperatures drop
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当天空变暗，气温降低到
16:24
below minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
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零下100度华氏之下，
16:27
the most environmentally hostile segment of Helios's journey
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太阳神号顺利通过
16:30
has gone by without notice,
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了这段最具恶劣环境挑战的旅程
16:32
except for being recorded by specially designed data acquisition systems
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除了使用特别设计的数据采集系统来记录，
16:36
and their associated sensors.
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加上特别设计的感应器。
16:39
Approaching a peak radar altitude of 96,863 feet,
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它能临近96863英尺，即高雷达能达到的最高海拔，
16:44
at 4:12 p.m., Helios is standing on top of 98 percent of the Earth's atmosphere.
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下午四点十二分，太阳神号已经在地球大气层的百分之九十八的高度了。
16:49
This is more than 10,000 feet higher
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这比前世界纪录，SR-71黑鸟号达到的最高海拔，
16:52
than the previous world's altitude record held by the SR-71 Blackbird.
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还高了10000英尺。
16:57
(Applause)
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（掌声）
17:06
PM: That plane has many purposes, but it's aimed for communications,
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保罗 麦克柯罗迪：这个飞机有很多用途，我们做它是为了通讯，
17:11
and it can fly so slowly that it'll just stay up at 65,000 feet.
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它能飞得很慢，还能停留在65000英尺的高空，
17:18
Eventually, it will be able to have to stay up day, night, day, night,
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最终我们能够让它日复一日地停在高空，
17:21
for six months at a time, acting like the synchronous satellite,
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长达六个月，就像同步卫星一样，
17:25
but only ten miles above the Earth.
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但是只与地球保持十英里的高度。
17:27
Let's have the next video. This shows the other end of the spectrum.
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让我们看下一段录像，展示了另一个极端。
17:30
(Video) Narrator: A tiny airplane, the AV Pointer serves for surveillance.
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解说员：小小的一架飞机，AV指针，作为监视器，
17:33
In effect a pair of roving eyeglasses,
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事实上，是一副巡逻眼镜，
17:35
a cutting-edge example of where miniaturization can lead
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让人可以从车里控制它，
17:38
if the operator is remote from the vehicle.
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用这种小型化飞行器去了解前方情况。
17:41
It is convenient to carry, assemble, and launch by hand.
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它方便携带，简单易装，容易使用。
17:44
Battery-powered, it is silent and rarely noticed.
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它是电池驱动的，零噪音，不起眼。
17:48
It sends high-resolution video pictures back to the operator.
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它能把高清电影或者照片发送回操纵器，
17:51
With on-board GPS, it can navigate autonomously,
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加上一个GPS，它能自动导航，
17:55
and it is rugged enough to self-land without damage.
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它也很结实，能够自己降落也不会坏。
17:59
PM: Okay, and let's have the next.
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保罗 麦克柯罗迪：好的，现在看下一个——
18:01
(Applause)
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（掌声）
18:05
That plane is widely used by the military, now, in all their operations.
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那个飞机现在已经在军队里广泛使用了，用在军事行动中。
18:10
Let's have the next video.
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让我们看下一段影片。
18:14
(Video) (Music)
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（音乐）
18:28
Alan Alda: He's got it, he's got it, he's got it on his head.
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爱兰 艾达：他拿到了，他拿到了，就在他头顶上。
18:30
(Music)
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（音乐）
18:32
We're going to end our visit with Paul MacCready's flying circus
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我们的访问最后要采访泰勒， 保罗 麦克柯罗迪的飞行马戏主人
18:35
by meeting his son, Tyler, who, with his two brothers,
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的儿子，他和他的两个兄弟
18:38
helped build the Gossamer Condor, 25 years ago.
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在二十五年前参与制造了戈萨默秃鹰。
18:42
Tyler MacCready: You can chase it, like this, for hours.
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泰勒 麦克柯罗迪：你能追着这个飞机好几个小时。
18:44
AA: When they got bored with their father's project,
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爱兰 艾达：当他们做他们父亲的项目烦了，
18:47
they invented an extraordinary little plane of their own.
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他们就发明自己的特殊飞行器。
18:49
TM: And I can control it by putting the lift on one side of the wing, or on the other.
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泰勒 麦克柯罗迪：我能控制它，给一点上升气流这里那里的。
18:54
AA: They called it their Walkalong Glider.
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爱兰 艾达：他们叫这个他们的跟屁虫滑翔器。
18:56
(Music)
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（音乐）
18:58
I've never seen anything like that.
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我从没见过这样的东西。
18:59
How old were you when you invented that?
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你发明这个的时候多大？
19:01
TM: Oh, 10, 11. (AA: Oh my God.)
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泰勒 麦克柯罗迪：十岁十一岁——（爱兰 艾达：天哪。）
19:04
TM: 12, something like that. (AA: That's amazing.)
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泰勒 麦克柯罗迪：十二岁吧，差不多那么大。（爱兰 艾达：真酷毙了。）
19:06
PM: And Tyler's here to show you the Walkalong.
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保罗 麦克柯罗迪：今天泰勒也来了，向大家展示跟屁虫。
19:09
(Applause)
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（掌声）
19:14
TM: All right. You all got a couple of these in your gift bags,
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泰勒 麦克柯罗迪：好吧，你们的礼物袋都有几个，
19:18
and one of the first things,
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首先——
19:21
the production version seemed to dive a little bit,
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这批产品飞起来有点容易下沉
19:23
and so I would just suggest you bend the wing tips up a little bit
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所以我建议你们在飞之前
19:26
before you try flying it.
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把它的翅膀向上稍稍扳一点，
19:28
I'll give you a demonstration of how it works.
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让我展示一下这个是怎么飞的，
19:30
The idea is that it soars on the lift over your body, like a seagull soaring on a cliff.
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它是靠你身体的气流飞，就像海鸥在悬崖上飞一样。
19:36
As the wind comes up, it has to go over the cliff, so
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风向上它也向上，所以
19:39
as you walk through the air, it goes around your body, some has to go over you.
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当你走路时，穿过空气，气流在你身体边流动，有些会到你上方去。
19:44
And so you just keep the glider positioned in that up current.
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你只需要确保它停在气流的上方。
19:47
The launch is the difficult part: you've got to hold it high up, over your head,
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起飞是最难的，你必须把它举过头顶，
19:50
and you start walking forward, and just let go of it, and you can control it like that.
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然后开始向前走，放开手，你就能控制它了。
19:56
(Laughter)
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(笑声)
19:58
And then also, like it said in the video,
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接下来，就像影片里说的，
20:01
you can turn it left or right
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你能让它左转右转，
20:03
just by putting the lift under one wing or another.
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只要在一个翅膀加一点上升力就好了，
20:05
So I can do it -- oops, that was going to be a right turn.
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所以我可以这样——噢，这样就是右转了。
20:10
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
20:11
Okay, this one will be a left turn.
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好了，这个是左转
20:15
Here, but --
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这里，噢
20:17
(Applause) --
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（掌声）
20:18
anyway.
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就这样——
20:20
(Applause)
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（掌声）
20:23
And that's it, so you can just control it, wherever you want,
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这样就行了。所以你能控制它，去哪里都行，
20:26
and it's just hours of fun. And these are no longer in production,
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几个小时都很好玩，这个已经断货了。
20:30
so you have real collector's items.
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所以你现在有真正的绝版了。
20:32
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
20:34
And this, we just wanted to show you --
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这里，我们还想给你看这个——
20:39
if we can get the video running on this, yeah --
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如果我们在上面装个摄像头，对了，
20:41
just an example of a little video surveillance.
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只是一个摄像头——一个摄影监视器。
20:47
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
20:49
This was flying around in the party last night, and --
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这个在昨晚的舞会上飞过，于是——
20:53
(Laughter) --
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（笑声）
20:55
you can see how it just can fly around,
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你能看到它只是到处飞，
20:58
and you can spy on anybody you want.
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你能偷看谁都行。
21:00
(Laughter)
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（笑声）
21:06
And that's it. I was going to bring an airplane,
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就是这样，我想带一个真飞机来的，
21:08
but I was worried about hitting people in here,
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但是我不想撞上谁，
21:10
so I thought this would be a little bit more gentle.
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所以我选了这个，温柔点的。
21:14
And that's it, yeah, just a few inventions.
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这只是，嗯，几个小发明。
21:17
(Applause)
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(掌声)
21:25
All right.
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好了.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Paul MacCready - EngineerPaul MacCready, an aircraft designer and environmentalist, is a pioneer of human-powered flight, alternative energy for transportation, and environmentally responsible design.
Why you should listen
Through his life, Paul MacCready turned his mind, energy and heart toward his two passions: flight and the Earth. His early training as a fighter and glider pilot (glider pilots still use the "MacCready speed ring" he developed after World War II) led him to explore nontraditional flight and nontraditional energy sources.
In the 1970s, he and his company, AeroVironment, designed and built two record-breaking human-powered planes: the Gossamer Condor, the first human-powered aircraft to complete a one-mile course set by the Kremer Prize, and the Gossamer Albatross, the first to cross the English Channel. The planes' avian names reveal the deep insight that MacCready brought to the challenge -- that large birds, in their wing shape and flying style, possess an elegant secret of flight.
He then turned his wide-ranging mind toward environmentally responsible design, informed by his belief that human expansion poses a grave threat to the natural world. His team at AeroVironment prototyped an electric car that became General Motors' pioneering EV-1. They explored alternative energy sources, including building-top wind turbines. And they developed a fleet of fascinating aircraft -- including his Helios solar-powered glider, built to fly in the very top 2 percent of Earth's atmosphere, and the 2005 Global Observer, the first unmanned plane powered by hydrogen cells.
Paul MacCready | Speaker | TED.com