Day of Flight Takes off at Chester Zoo
Chester Zoo and Airbus share their expertise showing the similarities between the natural flight of birds and man-made aircraft.
An “Animazing Day of Flight” was held at Chester Zoo open to young people of all ages as part of Chester Zoo’s Animazing Summer education programmes. The day brought together Airbus’ aviation experts and team’s from the Zoo to show how nature inspires flight in a fun and hands-on way.
Airbus engineers were on hand to show where inspiration for aircraft designs comes from and more than 400 young people took part in various activities including designing their own Beluga plane, as well as building and flying A320neo models. The Chester Zoo education team caught moths for children to examine and gave them bat and owl wings to learn about natural flight.
Airbus Engineering Intern Chris Robinson said: “Natural flight has been inspiring aviation for many years and it was great for the children to see first-hand the similarities between natural and mechanical flight by studying the flight of modern day aircraft against the unique characteristics of birds and butterflies which have intricate mechanisms in their wing structure.”
Jill Hutchinson, Airbus Head of Community Relations said: “We were delighted to be part of this fun and informative day at Chester Zoo and to be able to see first-hand, the young peoples’ enthusiasm for understanding flight.”
Airbus’ presence at Chester Zoo is linked with its sponsorship of the zoo’s aviaries and conservation project in Tanzania where an aircraft patrols the Mkomazi National Park protecting endangered Black Rhinos from poachers.
