Batman could fly but would die on landing, scientists say

Batman could fly using just his cape but would suffer serious injuries when trying to land, a study of the aerodynamics of his winged attire has concluded.

In fact, the caped crusader would be travelling so fast that he'd crash and would probably die, claimed by student physicists at the University of Leicester.

If Batman jumped from a building 492ft (150m) high, the team discovered, he could glide a distance of around 1148ft (350 metres). But his velocity would increase to about 68 mph as he descended before reaching a steady 50 mph as he approached street level - a speed too great for him to survive without serious injury.

The group of four students concluded that DC Comics' superhero, who returns to cinemas on July 20 in the Dark Knight Rises, should consider taking a parachute for a safe landing. Their paper, called 'Trajectory of a Falling Batman' was published in the University of Leicester Journal of Special Physics Topics.

In a mathematical simulation of his flight, they wrote: "Batman's descent is rapid, even for this high estimate for the lift coefficient. Looking at the case for gliding from a fairly tall building of height 150m, Batman can glide to a distance of about 350m, which is reasonable; the problem with the glide lies in his velocity as he reaches ground level.

"The velocity rises rapidly to a maximum of a little over 110km/hr before steadying to a constant speed of around 80km/hr. At these high speeds any impact would likely be fatal if not severely damaging (consider impact with a car travelling at these speeds).

"Clearly gliding using a batcape is not a safe way to travel, unless a method to rapidly slow down is used such as a parachute."

One of the team, David Marshall, 22, said: "If Batman wanted to survive the flight, he would definitely need a bigger cape. Or if he preferred to keep his style intact he could opt for using active propulsion, such as jets to keep himself aloft."