Yr reporter got to go to OSH this year, and thus has the latest sighting of the most unique flying machine in the whole joint: The Ornithopter.
Some say it's just a rumor, but no rumor could live up to the technical reality of this flying-type machine. It was there!
This particular example of the genre had tiller-operated steerable tailwheel gear. The mains were iron hooped 24-inchers. The rear, another salvage of an early prototype was oaken, minor diameter 14-inch and major diameter 18-inch.
The machine has a rag-and-timber airframe. Much as 17th century master shipwrights would roam deep English forests, looking for oak trees with the right conformation for a keelson, ornithopter specialists roam the remnants of the great Eastern Deciduous Forest for a deformed paw-paw, just right to accept loads from the gear...the motor torques&reactions...and the thopping parts.
The motor, you say? Ornithopter specialists must be motor-minded, possibly to the detriment of airframe...well,maybe not. This machine sported an all-iron 1903 John Deere water pump motor, cleverly converted to thopping usage. Fine technicals abound, for instance the suck-valve intake system. Reduction of parts count is the holy grail of reliability mavens, and here was a giant step. As the piston descended the mighty bore, the pressure of the atmosphere pushing against the back of the valve actually opened it, admitting fresh combustibles. (In this case, 100LL, but the early protos used powdered coal dust--carburation a bit uneven in that case, so .....) A conventional rockerbone-connected-to-the-pushrodbone system operated the exhaust poppet.
A clever means to troubleshoot the rockerbone system was to richen the carb, setting the motor to an 8-stroke or even 12-stroking pattern, thus: poop...clatter clatter clatter..poop for a 12 pattern. The poop sound is authentic, and is amplified by the megaphone style exhaust--a tribute to a flugelhorn which so cheerfully donated the relevant part--- which also formed the gassy white cloud into perfect smoke rings.
Now, flight. Ornithopters are not fixed wing a/c. No. They are wavering-wing a/c, connecting the pivoting wings thru connecting-rod-bones to the crankbone w/ offset pin. Wood spars. And lovely fabric, a kind of Indian blanket print.

Yr scribe closely questioned the designer/operator about flight characteristics. He was tight-lipped, mindful of the danger if mad terries were to fully grasp the principles of the machine. "Vne? Vne?" he temporized, sipping a Leinenkugel, then another Leinie, and another.... It lead me to believe that this was a taxi-test mule, that the actual machine was still at its Area 51 hq.
But there was taxi-testing all through the camp, and even down show street. And to demonstrate the true aerobatic potential of the thopter, there was a wing walker! And what a wing-walker! Mounted above the wing pivots was a stoutly constructed platform, just big enough for Ms. Cornbelt of 1974. No wonder the platform was stout! Safety is always a paramount design issue!
Speaking of safety, Ms. Cornbelt had a big ol' waist strap to keep her up there during violent maneuvers. I looked careful. Yep, sure enough, a Joe Wieder signature model. (Tho there was no 'Judge Me' sticker on the ornithopter, still, iIts details like that catches the judges eyes.)
Never mind, she was human poetry. Nice smile. A pretty good Queen Eliz. wave (a little forearm movement, mostly its wrist action...) She cocked that right leg, bending the knee and pointing the foot. V. graceful. I'm telling you, she would a made a helluva hood ornament.
Well, if ya wasn't there ya missed it.
But wait, there's hope yet. I axed the designer/operator if they'd be back, maybe with the real flying model, next year. "I don't think about it too much," he said, belching. "Maybe." So there's your hope.
As I turned to leave, I heard him yell back into the camper, "Brunhilde! Brunhilde! Time to go thopping again!"
Poop...clatter clatter...poop...clatter clatter...

Ashton vs Concord
Please, write to AOPA and EAA and urge them to file an Amicus brief in my behalf. (AOPA, Government Affairs, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Md. 21701 / EAA, Government Issues Section, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903).  Kent--