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A fixed-wing aircraft may have more than one wing plane, stacked one above another: Biplane: two wing planes of similar size, stacked one above the other. The biplane is inherently lighter and stronger than a monoplane and was the most common configuration until the 1930s. The very first Wright Flyer I was a biplane.
Aircraft wing showing the KFm2 Step Aircraft wing showing the KFm3 Step. The Kline–Fogleman airfoil or KF airfoil is a simple airfoil design with single or multiple steps along the length of the wing. The purpose of the step, it is claimed, is to allow some of the displaced air to fall into a pocket behind the step and become part of the ...
Aircraft wing leading-edge extensions – annotated. A leading-edge extension (LEX) is a small extension to an aircraft wing surface, forward of the leading edge. The primary reason for adding an extension is to improve the airflow at high angles of attack and low airspeeds, to improve handling and delay the stall. A dog tooth can also improve ...
Development of an effective set of flight control surfaces was a critical advance in the development of aircraft. Early efforts at fixed-wing aircraft design succeeded in generating sufficient lift to get the aircraft off the ground, but once aloft, the aircraft proved uncontrollable, often with disastrous results. The development of effective ...
Wing-shape optimization is by nature an iterative process. First, a baseline wing design is chosen to begin the process with; this is usually the wing created by aerospace engineers. This wing is assumed to be reasonably close to a best-fit design from the engineers. The next step is to model the wing shape and structure.
One promising approach that could rival slats are flexible wings. In flexible wings, much or all of a wing surface can change shape in flight to deflect air flow. The X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing is a NASA effort. The adaptive compliant wing is a military and commercial effort. [7] [8] [9]
When one wing tip stalls it leads to wing drop, a rapid rolling motion. Also, roll control may be reduced if the airflow over the ailerons is disrupted by the stall, reducing their effectiveness. On aircraft with swept wings, wing tip stall also produces an undesirable nose-up pitching moment which hampers recovery from the stall.
An adaptive compliant wing is a wing which is flexible enough for aspects of its shape to be changed in flight. [1] [2] Flexible wings have a number of benefits.Conventional flight control mechanisms operate using hinges, resulting in disruptions to the airflow, vortices, and in some cases, separation of the airflow.