It may not sound ideal for aircraft wings to start moving mid-flight, but NASA is testing the benefits that outer wing position can provide aerodynamically. This innovative technology of folding the outer portion of wings in flight is part of the Spanwise Adaptive Wing project, or SAW.
Flight tests using a subscale prototype UAV Prototype Technology-Evaluation Research Aircraft, or PTERA, were conducted at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California.
A special alloy material, developed by NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, is temperature triggered to move the outer portions of wings up or down in flight.
