For large passenger and cargo (fixed-wing) aircraft (at least), what are must be our design goals?
I think:
1) Max fuel efficiency
2) Min mechanical complexity (for less breakdowns (more relilability) , less repairs and replacements, cheap production and maintenance)
3) Max safety
What if, all wings had no internal/external moving parts? (Where each wing joined to the body, the wing is actually joined to a rotatable circle, where circle diameter is the wing width.) (That means the pair of two large width main wings would need to be replaced by small width (and also small length?) multiple pairs of wings, located back-to-back (with an interval in between) and/or like biplane wings.) The rotatable circles would enable a flight computer to keep readjusting attack angle of each wing, for all kinds of flight control, and very fast, very often. It would also enable computer to always adjust the attack angles for max lift/speed/efficiency, depending on current speed, temperature, pressure, weather. I think it would also end icing problems for all such aircraft! (Also realize that this kind of aircraft would require engines to be joined to the body (not to any wings), to not increase mechanical complexity.)
Firstly, the existing fleet of commercial aircraft are beautiful, almost as beautiful as modern gliders. That should stand as an aesthetic warning to anyone wishing to radically redesign them.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, making the wings swivel would replace the monocoque strength of fixed wings with that of a single spar - with attendant weight increase even before bearings are considered.
Thirdly, The aerodynamics of such wings would be problematic too, as a wing with trailing edge control can effectively be twisted which makes for greater stability at low speed.
Fourthly, every imaginable wing arrangement has already been considered, built, and tested. Monoplanes are best.
There may still be some room for improvement at the tail end: No commercial airliner has a V-tail. Why not?