Aeroswap: Amazing Shape Changing Aircraft Flap

NASA Tests Revolutionary Shape Changing Aircraft Flap for the First Time.

NASA's green aviation project is one step closer to developing technology that could make future airliners quieter and more fuel-efficient with the successful flight test of a wing surface that can change shape in flight.

For taxi testing on Oct. 31, 2014 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, in California, the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) flap was extended to 20 degrees deflection. Flight results will validate whether the seamless design with its advanced lightweight materials can reduce wing structural weight, improve fuel economy and efficiency, and reduce environmental impacts.

The Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) project is a joint effort between NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), using flaps designed and built by FlexSys, Inc., of Ann Arbor, Michigan. With AFRL funding through the Air Force’s Small Business Innovative Research program, FlexSys developed a variable geometry airfoil system called FlexFoil that can be retrofitted to existing airplane wings or integrated into brand new airframes.This flight test is one of the NASA Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project’s eight large-scale integrated technology demonstrations to show design improvements in drag, weight, noise, emission and fuel reductions.

ACTE technology is expected to have far-reaching effects on future aviation. Advanced lightweight materials will reduce wing structural weight and give engineers the ability to aerodynamically tailor the wings to promote improved fuel economy and more efficient operations, while reducing environmental impacts.