Description
In practice, since most wing warping designs involved flexing of structural members; they were difficult to control and liable to cause structural failure. Ailerons had begun to replace wing warping as the most common means of achieving lateral control as early as 1911, especially in biplane designs. Monoplane wings of the period were much more flexible, and proved more amenable to wing warping – but even for monoplane designs, ailerons became the norm after 1915.
Lateral (roll) control in early aircraft was problematic at best. An overly flexible, involuntarily twisting wing can cause involuntary rolling, but even worse, it can convert attempts at correction, either from wing warping or ailerons, into a counteracting "tab" effect. Once this was fully understood wing structures were made progressively more rigid, precluding wing warping altogether – and aircraft became far more controllable in the lateral plane.
Read more about this topic: Wing Warping
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