Shape Changing Plane In Development

Eh-Wire writes "The University of Florida has a short article on the "morphing wing" drone they are developing for a small aircraft that can swoop through parking garages, dive into alleys and land on balconies. Close-up video of seagulls in flight was the inspiration for the design of the drone. A still image of the drone shows an aircraft that looks surprisingly gull-like. A video shows the "wing morphing" in action on a static mounted drone. There is also a link to quite a few more videos in the article but it's not real obvious. Some guys get all the phun jobs!"

Comments

Looks more like a certain Italian Renaissance

[WillAffleckUW]

inventor's design than it does the Wright Brothers designs.

But probably because he based his design on actual seagulls and terns as well.

I for one, welcome our new privacy-impaired overlords.

Police usage

[rob_squared]

This might be an interesting thing to avoid expensive helicoptor chases on freeways or on foot persuit in city areas.

Re:Police usage

[Back Slider 1969]

Or at the very least, a replacement for the TV news choppers that put police choppers in danger. I have heard from many police chopper pilots complain about how many near misses are caused by TV news choppers trying to get "the shot."

Bird-like wing design

[RamboIII]

I have to wonder about the usefulness of this. I know a lot of folks that fly small radio controled planes. These planes are very much able to fly in between buildings, swoop down under over-passes, and all the things mentioned in TFA.

The Air Force and NASA have so far provided about $3 million for the UF research, a substantial portion of which is aimed at addressing that issue by making the planes easier to fly.

I wonder why they would need to spend that much money on this "new" idea".

The bird-like prototypes are strikingly maneuverable, capable, for example, of completing three, 360-degree rolls in one second. (An F-16 fighter jet can manage at least one roll per second, but three rolls would produce excessive gravity force, killing the pilot). Flying in videotaped demonstrations, they are so agile they appear out of control at times, and indeed the planes require considerable talent by the remote control pilot.

Oh, oh oh, I see.

This is exciting.

[keilinw]

Looking at the differences between a bird and an airplane one can see obvious benefits of each. What conventional aeronautics have not been able to acomplish is the agility and dexterity with wich birds can manuvere in flight. Birds also have an incredible ability to fly at slow speeds and even recover from dangerous situations. All of these qualities are what we NEED in our future aeronautical designs.

As a Private Pilot I was getting excited by the prospect of the Mohler Flying Car, or even one of those (relatively) cheap DIY helicopters. But there was always something in the back of my mind that said that aircraft NEED to be more like birds.

Admittedly, the technology ISN'T as impressive as one would imagine. BUT, I applaud any attempt at changing the way things are done. In fact, I read an article yesterday that claimed that Japan is doing experiementation with a supersonic (Concorde-like) aircraft! Lets see what the future holds: flying cars, supersonic flight for everyone, personal helicopters, more agile designs, deployable parachutes, better computer assisted flight (from GPS, ALS, to auto performance enhancements).....

Its about time someone in the field of aeronautics changed things....things have remained the same for WAY TOO LONG.

WHY IS IT THAT A 1940's ERA war plane can KICK my Cessna's Butt????????? THIS DOES NOT SEEM LIKE PROGRESS.

Oblique All Wing

[Baldrson]

My favorite variable geometry aerodynamic structure is R. T. Jones' oblique all wing (PDF warning). Its basically just a highly eccentric elipse that flies. At 0 its angle of attack is 0. At Mach 1.6 its angle of attack is 60 degrees. As an SST topping out at Mach 1.6 it can achieve per-passenger fuel economy similar to a subsonic jumbo jet.

As a nearly-certified pilot...

[agraupe]

I'm excited that I one day might get to fly planes of this nature. Greater versatility is always a helpful thing, even if airports are still required. I do not, however, support the idea that the public at large should have access to vehicles of this sort. That is to say, there should be no change to current certification processes, with all the inherent restrictions therein. This would be far too dangerous, because flying is a very complex thing.

(Note: by nearly-certified, I mean that I am about 10 flight hours and a flight test away from being a certified private pilot)

Re:The wing shape isn't new...

[AndersOSU]

And when the air moves from the high-pressure underside to the low pressure top-side a very cool (but aerodynamically undesirable) effect called wing tip vorticies are formed. There are some awsome pictures of this, which I cannot be bothered to find.

Actually there was a theory that the reason that geese fly in a V formation was that they borrowed the up-draft shed from the wingtip from the goose ahead of them to significally increase flight efficiency. Don't know if this theory has merit, but I learned of it in a fluid dynamics class.

The real question is...

[theguyfromsaturn]

Is this the natural evolution of the airplane, or is it a case of intelligent design?