✈️ Exclusive Benefits for Readers
Verified codes to save on your next trip.
Aviation evolves just like the albatross birds that are inspiring the next generation of wings that will be used by the planes of the near future.
The engineers of Airbus have developed a scale aircraft with the first flapping wings in flight that could revolutionize aircraft wing design.
The European manufacturer has turned to nature to develop its "semi-aeroelastic hinge" concept to reduce aerodynamic drag and the overall weight of the wing, while combating the effects of turbulence and wind gusts.
Known as AlbatrossOne, the remote-controlled aircraft has already made its first proof-of-concept flights and the team will now perform additional tests before the demonstrator, based on the manufacturer's Airbus A321 aircraft, be extended even higher.
“While hinged wingtips are not new, military aircraft use them to allow greater storage capacity on aircraft carriers, the Airbus demonstrator is the first aircraft to test in flight, "free-form wingtips to alleviate the effects of wind gusts and turbulence", explained Airbus engineer Tom Wilson, based in Philton, north of bristol, United Kingdom.
“We are inspired by nature: albatross seabird locks its wings on the shoulder to soar to a long distance, but unlocks them when gusts of wind occur or some maneuver is required.
The first test flights of the AlbatrossOne demonstrator, developed by Airbus engineers at Filton, concluded in February after a development program of 20 months. speaking in toulouse, Dumont said Albatross One was Filton's "first plane since Concorde".
The AlbatrossOne has been constructed from carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforced polymers, as well as with components from additive layer manufacturing.
Initial testing of AlbatrossOne has examined the stability of the demonstrator with locked and fully unlocked wingtips, inspired by the flight behavior of albatrosses that we can find for example, in the Galapagos Islands.
The next step that Airbus will take is to carry out additional tests to combine the two modes., allowing the wingtips to unlock automatically in flight as conditions vary.
The team presented their research at the International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics conference in the United States..
✈️ Exclusive Benefits for Readers
Search here for hotels ALL over the world at the best price.
