With our product design, airfoils have come full circle. The Wright brothers introduced heavier than air, man-powered flight with warpable wings and we hope to return such a mechanism to the world of aeronautics. The Wright Flyer's wings were pine and spruce frames covered in canvas. They were flexible enough to allow the brothers to warp the wing tips, and thus, control the flight. The brothers used a system of cables and pulleys to manipulate the wings. As wings evolved, they became made primarily of rigid materials such as aluminum and steel. These wings made of inflexible materials needed a new mechanism for control. Engineers designed hinged flaps called ailerons that the pilot could move to control flight as necessary. The movement of the flaps was achieved through a system of hydraulics. Our product brings us back to the Wright brothers flexible, warpable wings. Although we do not utilize pulleys and cables, our design for a new airfoil will allow the pilot to holistically change the shape of the wing to control flight. Our research has shown us, however, that our warpable airfoil design could have many other applications as well.

In the early 1900s, as with the Wright flyer, the entire airframe of the airplane wings were covered in fabric, primarily canvas. As the capabilities and performance of airplanes increased, the fabric no longer suited the airplane design. Engineers replaced the canvas coverings with aluminum sheets, which we still see on the majority of airplanes today. Our product proposes changing materials once again. QUASAM, a material so new it is not yet on the market, has a strength comparable to that of aluminum but has the advantage of being very flexible. QUASAM is the covering, the "skin" of our airfoil. To cause the wing to change shape mid flight, our product would use piezoelectric stack actuators. These actuators move the QUASAM surface of the wing. QUASAM would also provide the structural support for piezoelectric stack actuators themselves.  (This process is described in greater detail in Component 2 and QUASAM's myriad of properties are described on the materials background page.)

The Wright brothers initial vision is realized with our product to such an extent the brothers never could have imagined. This highly advanced control system will allow the wing to be the most aerodynamically efficient shape it can be according to the conditions, speed, altitude, and stage of flight. The advantages of this new airfoil are a major increase in fuel economy, improved stability, and reduction of stress on the airplane and its parts.  The advantages are not, however, limited to airplanes and their wings.  This controllable airfoil would allow race care drivers to adjust their spoilers without pulling in for a pit stop.  It would prevent racing boats from lifting off the surface of the water by allowing them to adjust the airfoils on the nose of the boat.  Our product would improve anything that uses airfoils from propellers and helicopter blades to ceiling fans and the fan cooling your computer as you read this.