3 ms·

If twisting wings were that advantageous for air travel, I would think they would've been adopted into a mainstream product by now, since it has been many years

If twisting wings were that advantageous for air travel, I would think they would've been adopted into a mainstream product by now, since it has been many years since the expiration of those patents.

run4yourlives 15y ago
There are a lot of designs that would be highly advantageous to aircraft design that aren't for one reason or another normally incorporated in new variants. Canards come to mind right off the bat. The fact is that the design of aircraft is extremely expensive and there is little advantage to innovation. You aren't going to be able to charge twice as much as your competitor with the 737 lookalike regardless of how wonderful your new canard layout flexible control surface design is. Even military aircraft aren't pushing the envelope in design features anymore - think of how similar an F-22 is to an F-15. There is simply too much risk and not enough payoff.
- lutorm 15y ago
  Canards come to mind right off the bat. Even military aircraft aren't pushing the envelope in design features anymore Ever seen the JAS39 Gripen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gripen)?
  - run4yourlives 15y ago
    Canards have been used quite heavily in fighter jets for the last 20 years... Gripen, Typhoon, Rafale, Kfir. All delta-winged designs with the same basic layout. For that specific example however I was thinking civilian aircraft, in which canards would be a huge step forward but are never seen.
    - lutorm 15y ago
      You are practically correct about that last thing, though I must point out that never is too strong a word: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-144 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-144
      - run4yourlives 15y ago
        Never as in "commercial success". Closer to reality than the 144, which was pretty much a government money pit, was the Beech Starship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship). Again though, not able to see any real success.

If twisting wings were that advantageous for air travel, I would think they would've been adopted into a mainstream product by now, since it has been many years since the expiration of those patents.

run4yourlives 15y ago

There are a lot of designs that would be highly advantageous to aircraft design that aren't for one reason or another normally incorporated in new variants. Canards come to mind right off the bat. The fact is that the design of aircraft is extremely expensive and there is little advantage to innovation. You aren't going to be able to charge twice as much as your competitor with the 737 lookalike regardless of how wonderful your new canard layout flexible control surface design is. Even military aircraft aren't pushing the envelope in design features anymore - think of how similar an F-22 is to an F-15. There is simply too much risk and not enough payoff.

lutorm 15y ago
Canards come to mind right off the bat. Even military aircraft aren't pushing the envelope in design features anymore Ever seen the JAS39 Gripen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gripen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gripen)?
- run4yourlives 15y ago
  Canards have been used quite heavily in fighter jets for the last 20 years... Gripen, Typhoon, Rafale, Kfir. All delta-winged designs with the same basic layout. For that specific example however I was thinking civilian aircraft, in which canards would be a huge step forward but are never seen.
  - lutorm 15y ago
    You are practically correct about that last thing, though I must point out that never is too strong a word: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-144 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-144
    - run4yourlives 15y ago
      Never as in "commercial success". Closer to reality than the 144, which was pretty much a government money pit, was the Beech Starship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beechcraft_Starship). Again though, not able to see any real success.