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Flexible wing
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Flexible wing
In aeronautics, a flexible wing is an airfoil or aircraft wing which can deform in flight.
Early pioneer aeroplanes such as the 1903 Wright Flyer used the flexible characteristics of lightweight construction to control flight through wing warping. Others made collapsible wings for folding away, such as the flying car designs by Gustave Whitehead.
Since the 1960s flexible wings have dominated hang glider and ultralight aircraft designs, with such types as the delta-shaped Rogallo wing and the fully collapsible paraglider.
More recently, the advent of high-strength flexible materials and other advanced technologies has renewed interest in the use of flexing for control purposes.
The first effective control system on a powered aircraft allowed one to fly for the first time. The Wright Flyer used wing warping for lateral or roll control, by twisting one wing tip to increase its angle to the air while twisting the other to reduce its angle. The Wright brothers patented system was widely copied.
However, as engine powers and air speeds rose, so too did the forces needed to operate the pilot controls and by 1914 warping was all but abandoned.
Predating successful controlled and powered flight, collapsible wings had been developed in an attempt to solve the problems of ground storage and transport. A system of radial ribs like a giant folding fan, sometimes described as bat-like, was used by some pioneers, notably Gustave Whitehead in his attempts to build a flying car.
Aeroelasticity is the natural tendency of any wing to flex under aerodynamic and inertial loads while in flight. Most designs seek to minimise the effects by making the wing structure as stiff as possible. However some have sought to use the effect to advantage.
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Flexible wing
In aeronautics, a flexible wing is an airfoil or aircraft wing which can deform in flight.
Early pioneer aeroplanes such as the 1903 Wright Flyer used the flexible characteristics of lightweight construction to control flight through wing warping. Others made collapsible wings for folding away, such as the flying car designs by Gustave Whitehead.
Since the 1960s flexible wings have dominated hang glider and ultralight aircraft designs, with such types as the delta-shaped Rogallo wing and the fully collapsible paraglider.
More recently, the advent of high-strength flexible materials and other advanced technologies has renewed interest in the use of flexing for control purposes.
The first effective control system on a powered aircraft allowed one to fly for the first time. The Wright Flyer used wing warping for lateral or roll control, by twisting one wing tip to increase its angle to the air while twisting the other to reduce its angle. The Wright brothers patented system was widely copied.
However, as engine powers and air speeds rose, so too did the forces needed to operate the pilot controls and by 1914 warping was all but abandoned.
Predating successful controlled and powered flight, collapsible wings had been developed in an attempt to solve the problems of ground storage and transport. A system of radial ribs like a giant folding fan, sometimes described as bat-like, was used by some pioneers, notably Gustave Whitehead in his attempts to build a flying car.
Aeroelasticity is the natural tendency of any wing to flex under aerodynamic and inertial loads while in flight. Most designs seek to minimise the effects by making the wing structure as stiff as possible. However some have sought to use the effect to advantage.
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