Rotor Test

I steered the bike into the shade beneath the patio cedar bench. Resting on the bottom wooden rail was a dry, single-winged maple seed. The curved fibrous vane caught my attention. I dismounted, stepped onto the timber support, and lifted the pod by its stem. Holding it clear past the bench edge, I released my grip. The seed caught the still air, pitched sixty degrees, and initiated a rapid clockwise autorotation. It spiraled down in tight, steady revolutions, decelerating smoothly before settling against my front knobby tire. Pure aerodynamic rotor action with zero mechanical joints. I picked it up and stowed it in my harness.