Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge
Latest
NASA testing shape-shifting wings that make planes more efficient
The first airplane ever flown, the Wright Flyer, used "wing-warping," in which pulleys twisted the trailing edge of the airfoil for roll control. Ironically, NASA is now revisiting that tech in a way by flight-testing the FlexFoil, a system that replaces a plane's mechanical flaps with a shape-shifting wing. Since 1911, almost every airplane made has used mechanical flaps for climbing, descents and slow flight. While effective, they're aerodynamically inefficient thanks to the gaps and acute angles, as you may have noticed (in horror) when you're sitting near the wing of a passenger jet.
