Other Kinds of Wings

Fixed-wing airplanes are not the only aircraft that use wings. A helicopter’s rotor blades are actually long, thin wings. High-performance parachutes called parafoils are really inflatable wings. The parachute is made of two layers of fabric with dividers between them, forming a line of pockets, or cells. As the parachute moves along,
air fills the cells and forms a wing shape. The parachutist con­trols and steers the parafoil by pulling control lines that change the wing’s shape.

A flexible fabric hang glider is yet another type of wing. Called a Rogallo wing, this early hang glider was developed in the 1940s by hus­band and wife, Francis and Gertrude Rogallo. When space exploration began, NASA investigated the Rogallo wing as a way of landing the Gemini manned spacecraft. Round parachutes eventually were used instead, but the Rogallo wing was used by other designers, who devel­oped it into the modern hang glider.

Racecars also use wings. However, racecar wings do the opposite job of air­craft wings. They produce a downward force, called downforce, when they cut through air. This pushes the car down harder against the ground, giving its tires better grip, and enabling it to take corners faster without loss of traction.

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SEE ALSO:

• Aerodynamics • Aileron and

Rudder • Bernoulli’s Principle

• Lift and Drag • Stall