Dragons, or shall I say, Western Dragons, would have to be mammals in order to fly without freezing to death. Most dragons are depicted as having 'bat' wings. (These include: wyvern, western dragon, some hydras, ect.) So, technically, if dragons do exist, they would probably be related to bats in some manner.
If dragons were to fly they would have to do so in the same speedy manner of bats. They would have to use short, quick flaps of their wings in order to stay in the air. They would also be able to glide for a short time if they were at a high spot.
Dragons, however, would have to eat and sleep a great deal in order to maintain the proper weight that they need. (Flight burns a tremendous amount of calories, which is why bird hunt so much.) What would dragons eat to sustain this weight? Most certainly larger creatures like hawks, eagles, and perhaps even larger sea life. (sharks, whales, ect.) The dragons would also do a great deal of hibernating, and, as we all know, dragons do a lot of that, anyways.
Wing structure is another question. The wings would have to connect at the hip (above the lower legs) in order to provide control and protection. They would also need large rudder-tails to help them fly correctly. In addition, membranes would be needed to attach to the tail so that the dragon could fly. Since most dragons are depicted as having 'bat' wings, they would not be able to fly for long periods of time, either.
Light Bones with Hydrogen
Some have suggested that dragon bodies are filled with hydrogen and that the have light bones. Wings, they claim, are simply for steering, and thus do not have to be a particular size or manner. Sadly, there are many reasons that disprove this suggestion.
Even if the dragon is small, being filled with a light gas and light bones will not help to support flight. Instead, the dragon would float away...until they released some of that gas and equalized themselves with the atmosphere.
Secondly, their bodily functions could not be supported without blood (as all mammals and reptiles have) and organs. Should the dragon be "filled with hydrogen", there would be little or no room left for organs and such. How would the dragon live?
Finally, larger dragons would simply have to be huge to fly. They would have to look ten times their size in order to fly. Also, if they were to be badly hurt in battle, most of the gases would leave their body. How would they fly, then?
Magical Flight
Very often people will write to me explaining that "not all things can be explained by science... dragons could fly by spirit or by magic..." or something to a similar extent.
It is very true that science cannot explain everything, and it is possible to believe that dragons fly through spiritual energy or other paranormal phenomenon that would be inexplicable. The validity of this belief, that is, something a person can choose to believe without facts, does not really satisfy the extended question, "If dragons exist, or existed as a species, how did they fly?"
So while the Flight-by-Magic belief is valid in itself, it does not help in the realm of physiological fact or scientific understanding of dragons.
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