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So I've been looking into how a human could fly and the physical limits to it. I've wondered though how it would be changed if you used someone who was very small in size but can still have a lot of muscles, like someone with dwarfism. The strongest benchpress by someone with dwarfism was 36 stone (around 504lb or 228.611kg) so it is possible for them to have a much greater strength to body size ratio than an average human w/o dwarfism, their average height, and weight being 4ft and ~45kg respectively. I've also seen something like how someone around 4'11 could have wings if their body weight was a quarter of the average weight, so if you decrease the height and have maybe half the weight of an average person since some dwarfs can be down to 30kg, with the average person w/o dwarfism's weight being between 62-82kg for an adult male.

So could it be possible to give a person wings if they were smaller and lighter than average people? I've only really seen this questioned with averages and not looking at the possibilities of people who are quite below average weight and height.

sunny
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  • Welcome to the site sunny, when you have a few minutes, please take the [tour] and read up in our [help] about how we work: [ask]. Your question is not very well constrained, and there's currently no easy way to rank one answer over another, or determine if an answer is fully correct. Please edit your question to explain the specific details of what height and mass your "humans" possess. Then we can look at energy required and metabolic aspects to help you find an answer. The answer is yes, if a human weighs as little as a sparrow, goose, swan or golden eagle. How long is a piece of string? – Escaped dental patient. May 11 '19 at 23:17
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    The reason the "Anatomically Correct Angels" question is important is that a lot must change in the human body to permit wings. The answers to that question addresses those issues and fundamentally answers this question. – JBH May 11 '19 at 23:33
  • To chime-in again, I was thirty years ago, taller than average. I am now shorter than average. Partly because time shrinks the intro-vertebral disks and partly because the average height has increased. Gliding can be done by anyone of any age: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dN2AcfTLPVQ Seriously, anyone can "have wings". If you are asking a question about flying, then you need to construct it somewhat differently. – Escaped dental patient. May 11 '19 at 23:47
  • Any human can fly, if they aren't on a terrorist watch list, and can afford a ticket. :) – EDL May 12 '19 at 01:52
  • Even many of the largest flying birds don't fly by flapping their wings: they soar using thermals (or lift from ocean waves: https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/how-the-unflappable-albatross-can-travel-10000-miles-in-a-single-journey-8945618.html ) Any non-obese human can do the same, with a hang glider. – jamesqf May 12 '19 at 17:13

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