Wing Warping - Modern Re-assessment

Modern Re-assessment

Several of the reproduction planes built for the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines used the wing warping control systems of the original aircraft – with mixed results. The wing warping of the Avro Triplane proved surprisingly successful, whereas on the reproduction Antoinette, with its very flexible wing, wing warping offered little effective lateral control. Since the original Antoinette-style ailerons would have probably been even less effective, unobtrusive "modern" ailerons were inserted – even with these lateral control was very poor.

Wing morphing is a modern day extension of wing warping in which the aerodynamic shape of the wing is modified under computer control. The technique, it is hoped, will give improved control at flying speeds near the speed of sound where traditional control surfaces are less effective. Wing warping and wing morphing are also currently used to get extra control over an aircraft during difficult times such as in a storm. Research into this field is mainly conducted by NASA. CERN in Europe is also trying some of its finds on miniaturised models of several aircraft to better their aerodynamics, response, and control in flight or near the speed of sound. Airbus is also rumoured to be trying some of this technology on its test planes.