Flapping like a colibri would, I suppose, also be rather loud and create noise. What fascinated Lilienthal was the way large birds like storks fly: They do flap their wings to take off, and also when there are no thermals. But most of the time, they glide or use thermals to gain altitude.

I do have to say, whenever I see a stork above, or even just a red kite or pelican, I feel envious. Our drones and planes just seem crude in comparison.

To be clear: I'm not talking about flight as a means to get from A to B as quickly as possible. That's the domain of the jet engine, and no bird can match it. I'm talking about flying as a thing you do for the enjoyment of it, as a thing of beauty and wonder. In short, that which inspired humans to dream about flying machines in the first place.

Hang gliders are probably too fast to ever be safe (70kmh average), require big turns, take forever to fold and unfold, are big and heavy, but paragliders are fantastic in this regard (more like 40kmh for non-speed flying). Position is different (comfy chair with feet up vs laying on stomach), but once you fly you don't think about it.

Basically the only thing missing is the functionality for paraglide to become rigid structure on demand and they will be bombproof. There is some initial progress in this regard but its a long way from reality. Endgame would be probably some electrically-induced rigidity via some easy-to-manage remote. Or some smart behavior in between based on whats happening, that would allow easily things not considered possible currently.