Variable camber is a feature of some of
aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air. It counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engine ...
wing
A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expres ...
s that changes the
camber (or curvature) of the main
aerofoil during flight.
In one system, the leading and/or trailing edge sections of the whole wing pivot to increase the effective camber of the wing. This may be used to increase the maximum
lift coefficient
In fluid dynamics, the lift coefficient () is a dimensionless quantity that relates the lift generated by a lifting body to the fluid density around the body, the fluid velocity and an associated reference area. A lifting body is a foil or a ...
in order to shorten the take-off run, or to enhance manoeuvrability in the air. An early example was flown on the
Westland N.16 of 1917.
[Lukins, A.H.; ''The book of Westland aircraft'', Aircraft (Technical) Publications Ltd, (1943 or 1944).]
Although
flaps on the trailing or leading edge of a wing do vary the overall camber and are sometimes described as camber–changing flaps, they do not vary the main lifting surface in the same way that a variable-camber wing does.
Various other mechanisms have been tried. These include a device that controls the location and shape of the entire upper surface of the airfoil, a retractable bridge that connects two separate high aspect ratio wings, turning them into a single low aspect ratio wing or with telescopic segments that could be forced out, increasing the thickness, chord and shape of the affected portion of the wing. The
Parker Variable Wing had a fully flexible aerofoil.
See also
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Variable-sweep wing
A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be swept back and then returned to its original straight position during flight. It allows the aircraft's shape to be modified in fli ...
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Variable-incidence wing
A variable-incidence wing has an adjustable angle of incidence relative to its fuselage. This allows the wing to operate at a high angle of attack for take-off and landing while allowing the fuselage to remain close to horizontal.
The pivot mech ...
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Boeing X-53 Active Aeroelastic Wing
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Adaptive compliant wing
References
Aircraft wing components
Variable-geometry-wing aircraft
Wing configurations
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