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-   -   Aircraft with collapsible wings ? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travelbuzz/1794015-aircraft-collapsible-wings.html)

airsurfer Oct 1, 2016 3:45 am

Aircraft with collapsible wings ?
 
Virtually birds have collapsible wings. Saves lots of space when not in flight.

Why is this not possible in aircraft ?

That would save lots of space at airport terminals, or increase airport capacity greatly.
It goes wingless to the runway, then it deploys the wings + engines in it and takes off.
But there should be reasons that this is not feasible, but what ?

Mwenenzi Oct 1, 2016 4:19 am


Originally Posted by airsurfer (Post 27287547)
Virtually birds have collapsible wings. Saves lots of space when not in flight.

Why is this not possible in aircraft?

It is possible and it is/was done with (smallish) aircraft that are used on aircraft carriers.
Its it very expensive and has major enginnering design issues.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...ed_States_Navy

WorldLux Oct 1, 2016 4:30 am


Originally Posted by airsurfer (Post 27287547)
Why is this not possible in aircraft ?

It is possible but there hasn't been any need to do it. Mainly because it's a nightmare to design, construct, use, and maintain. Compared to the wings of small military aircrafts, commercial airliners have considerably bigger and heavier wings, that carry huge amounts of fuel.

Given that most airports usually don't have parking issues, it's really a no-brainer to dismiss the idea altogether. Why get an expensive and complex fix for a problem that doesn't exist or that occurs once a month?

Boeing is only doing it on the 777X in order to fit in the 80x80 box, not to actually save space.

nux Oct 2, 2016 4:56 am


Originally Posted by airsurfer (Post 27287547)
Virtually birds have collapsible wings. Saves lots of space when not in flight.

Why is this not possible in aircraft ?

That would save lots of space at airport terminals, or increase airport capacity greatly.
It goes wingless to the runway, then it deploys the wings + engines in it and takes off.
But there should be reasons that this is not feasible, but what ?

What happened to the previous thread you started about folding wings? The same answers apply, cost, weight, reliability.

You seem to like posting a lot of odd questions..

trooper Oct 2, 2016 5:09 am

You might like to read up on inflight refuelling too.....and why it hasn't been used for commercial aircraft...


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