For stable flight, fruit flies sense every wing beat

Simulated flight without control. The model insect hovers for a brief period before succumbing to pitch instability, which leads to its tumble and fall. In order to stabilize their flight, fruit flies sense the orientation of their bodies every time they beat their wings - one beat about every 4 milliseconds. Using computational analyses of free flight, Cornell physicists led by Z. Jane Wang, professor of physics and mechanical and aerospace engineering, made these predictions in a study co-authored by Song Chang, Ph.D. '13. "We started by asking at what time scales a model fruit fly needs to sense and act in order to maintain its balance in air," Wang said. "This led to our conjecture about a fruit fly's sensing rate, and also a prediction about the function of one of its muscles." Simulated flight with the control algorithm.