Continuously variable camber

A recent development is a flexible-skinned wing where the aerofoil section can be bent by internal jacks to give varying degrees of camber. The purpose of this arrangement, is not primarily to provide a high lift coefficient for landing and take-off, but to enable the camber to be matched to the flight conditions. With this mechanism the aircraft can be flown with a high aerodynamic efficiency over a wide range of conditions; a feature that is particularly desirable in a combat aircraft which may be required to fly at subsonic, transonic and super­sonic speeds during different phases of a mission. Figure 6.35 shows a F-111 fitted with a NASA experimental ‘mission adaptive wing’ of this type.

Continuously variable camber

Fig. 3.16 Extreme deflection on the flaps of an Andover

The large amount of drag produced can sometimes be an advantage on landing