A morphing or adapting aircraft is a term used to define an airplane that enables mid-flight geometry change, in order to allow a shift in performance and aerodynamic traits which in turn would allow for the optimization of multiple flight scenarios. Many viable solutions are examined and tested with various degrees of success. Span morphing is commonly used in order to improve duration while airfoil morphing (mostly refers to the camber) is commonly used to allow the elimination of ailerons and flap aerodynamic disturbances and thus lower parasitic drag. Most span morphing solutions are of limited geometry change, while those who do offer an extreme alteration in span result in a “new” aircraft which has an airfoil that is not suitable for the new working point.
The proposed solution presented in this work is of a folding, reversible wing which enables substantial wingspan and airfoil alteration simultaneously. The efficiency of such an aircraft is defined and analyzed while a “step by step” procedure is laid out for the process of initial sizing. In addition, the folding maneuver results in an abnormal airfoil which is examined and wind tunnel tested in order to assess the overall validity of the proposed configuration.
