Who amongst us has not marveled at flight in nature? While humans have been flying for barely 100 years, insects, birds and bats have ruled the air for over 300 million years, and we are just beginning to understand some of the secrets that have enabled them to fly with such elegance, economy, and agility. In this talk I will outline some of the work in my lab on animal flight and bio-inspired aerodynamic design. I will describe on our experiments characterizing, modelling and emulating bat, bird and insect flight. I will focus firstly on how insects and bats exploit and control their flexible bodies and wings to enhance their flight performance and secondly on the benefits of group flight in birds.