Wing twist

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wing twist is an

aerodynamic feature added to aircraft wings
to adjust lift distribution along the wing.

Often, the purpose of lift redistribution is to ensure that the wing tip is the last part of the wing surface to

stall, for example when executing a roll or steep climb; it involves twisting the wingtip a small amount downwards in relation to the rest of the wing. This ensures that the effective angle of attack is always lower at the wingtip than at the root, meaning the root will stall before the tip. This is desirable because the aircraft's flight control surfaces
are often located at the wingtip, and the variable stall characteristics of a twisted wing alert the pilot to the advancing stall while still allowing the control surfaces to remain effective, meaning the pilot can usually prevent the aircraft from stalling fully before control is completely lost.

Twist that decreases the local chord's incidence from root to tip is sometimes referred to as washout. Twist that increases the local incidence from root to tip is less common and is called wash-in. The Grumman X-29 had strong wash-in to compensate for the additional root-first stalling promoted by the forward sweep.[citation needed]

Wing twist can also, rarely, refer to the deflection of the wing when it is made of insufficiently stiff materials; actuation of the

composites
.

Wing twist is also observed in insects.[1]

See also

References

  1. PMID 23341923
    .

External links
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