A plane that flaps its wings like a bird!!
Traditionally, the design of the plane was strong, thick and sturdy. But now that’s changed. A team of researchers led by NASA has created a flexible wing that morphs as it flies.
The wings will be measuring 14 feet or four meters wide. The new wing is constructed from thousands of units that fit together. The ing functions and moves in a similar way to a bird’s wing, says one of the report’s authors, NASA research engineer, Nick Cramer.
He stated…
“Something like a condor will lock its joints in while it’s cruising, and then it (adjusts) its wing to a more optimal shape for its cruising, and then when it wants to do a more aggressive manoeuvre it’ll unlock its shoulder. That’s a similar response to what we’re doing here,” he said in a phone interview.
But it’s not just the way the new wing functions that set it apart, according to researchers who co-authored a paper published this week in the journal “Smart Materials and Structures.”
Before we see one at an airport, there will be many things that need to be addressed. Though the concept of cheaper and more flexible planes sounds appealing at first, this would require a lot of upheaval of the old approach of building and designing planes.
Before it can be launched there needs research, time and the mainly loads of money.
Till the time this idea will take off, we will have to do with the usual looking planes that don’t flap their wings like a bird.
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