Question: In prewar days there was a controversy, perhaps apocryphal, about whether the bumblebee has a legitimate aerodynamic right to fly. The average bumblebee (Bombus terrestris)

In prewar days there was a controversy, perhaps apocryphal, about whether the bumblebee has a legitimate aerodynamic right to fly. The average bumblebee (Bombus terrestris) weighs 0.88 g, with a wing span of 1.73 cm and a wing area of 1.26 cm2. It can indeed fly at 10 m/s. Using fixed-wing theory, what is the lift coefficient of the bee at this speed? Is this reasonable for typical airfoils?

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