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I was reading through some xkcd comics, and I came across this one (http://xkcd.com/620/).

In the comic, one of the main characters harnesses 91% his weight in order to be able to 'fly' with the lift from some wings.

Is this actually possible to do with some variation in wing type(s) and method?

EDIT: I believe this question isn't off-topic, actually. This question is about whether or not a human could generate enough lift using artificial wings, not about the feasibility of the pulley systems.

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    $\begingroup$ See the "Discussion" section at the end of the explain xkcd page for this comic. Apparently there was an incorrect assumption about the way the density of Titan's atmosphere relates to its pressure (Randall forgot to take into account the colder temperature), but if you assumed a planet that did have the gravity and atmospheric density described, then the ability to generate 9% of your body weight in lift on Earth would allow you to fly on this planet (for Titan's real density you only need 3% of weight in lift). $\endgroup$
    – Hypnosifl
    Commented Jan 13, 2015 at 20:49
  • $\begingroup$ See also "The Menace From Earth", lightforcenetwork.com/sites/default/files/C6RAH3.pdf $\endgroup$
    – DJohnM
    Commented Jan 14, 2015 at 5:52

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Technically speaking, it is plausible. The main hindrance to human-powered flight is that humans aren't biomechanically built for flight; we can produce plenty of power, just not in the right ways to create lift on our own. With a vehicle to convert from leg- and arm-power to airfoil power humans are capable of self-powered flight... though it takes an efficient, lightweight vehicle and a fit human to do it.

As for the specific method in the comic, it's not ideal. Flapping one's arms like bird wings is a difficult way to produce power; a pedal-powered prop or rotor would be easier. Besides the musculoskeletal non-ideal, the harness would restrict the downstroke of the arms, and the rope would continually pull somewhat backwards on the pilot, both of which would siphon power away from the forward (i.e. lift-generating) motion of winged flight.

Without the specific biological knowledge or the proper numbers and equations to crunch currently, I couldn't give a for-sure yes or no, but I'm guessing that since this method is roughly equivalent to trying to lift a 5-10kg block by waving two big paper fans at it, most humans would still have trouble flying with this method, even with the large counterweight.

EDIT: per the discussion pointed out by @Hypnosifl and the realization that blowing fans at something and lifting with wings are actually fairly different mechanics, I revise my answer to still vaguely say that it is plausible, with the added hypothesis that most decently-fit humans could do it.

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