Morphing Plane Wings for Efficient Flights

Roland Piquepaille writes "Airplanes, whether manned or unmanned, need to travel at various speeds. For example, a surveillance plane needs to fly fast to reach its destination point. Then, it needs to reduce its speed to achieve its surveillance mission. But with its fixed wings, it doesn't offer the same level of efficiency during these two phases. That's why Penn State engineers have devised airplane wings that change shape like a bird and have scales like a fish. Right now, the team has only built a tabletop model. So it will be a long time before you catch a plane and watch the wings disappear by looking through the window. This overview contains more details and references, including a couple of images describing the work done so far."

Comments

huh?

[dj245]

So it will be a long time before you catch a plane and watch the wings disappear by looking through the window.

What sort of voodu does one need to have to have to make things disappear just by looking at them? I hope no terrorists are on these flights and have notions of looking out the window. Soon the FAA will screen all passengers for passengers attempting to smuggle "eyes" onto the airplane.

Those blind people have it good! Their planes always have lift.