A wing tip device for a fixed wing aircraft is disclosed having an alular-like projection, a first leading edge region having a first sweep angle, a second leading edge region outboard of the first leading edge region in a spanwise direction and having a second sweep angle greater than the first sweep angle, a third leading edge region outboard of the second leading edge region in the spanwise direction and adjacent a tip end of the wing tip device and having a third sweep angle greater than the first sweep angle. The second leading edge region is adapted to generate a first vortex, and the third leading edge region is adapted to generate a second vortex which builds towards the tip end of the wing tip device.

An aircraft can include a wing. The wing can include a tip. A winglet can be pivotably connected to the wing proximate the tip. A connecting member can be operatively connected to the wing and the winglet. The connecting member can include a flexible material with a super elastic material member operatively connected to the flexible material. Thus, the connecting member can allow passive movement of the winglet responsive to real-time operational forces acting upon the aircraft. In some arrangements, the flexible material can be a fabric, and the super elastic material member can be a wire. In some arrangements, the super elastic material member can be configured to exhibit a non-linear stiffness profile. The non-linear stiffness profile can include a region of quasi-zero stiffness. The stiffness profile of the super elastic material member can be selectively varied, such as by controlling a temperature of the super elastic material member.

An aircraft wing is disclosed having a main fixed wing portion and a wing tip device at a tip thereof. The wing tip device is configurable between a flight configuration and a ground configuration, in which ground configuration the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that the span of the aircraft wing is reduced. A hinge arrangement connects the main fixed wing portion and the wing tip device and enables the wing tip device to rotate between the ground configuration and the flight configuration. The hinge arrangement protrudes beyond an outer surface of the main fixed wing portion and wing tip device. A fairing covers at least part of the hinge arrangement on at least a suction side of the wing.

An aircraft attitude controller configured to obtain information representative of an attitude of an aircraft is disclosed. On the basis of the information, the attitude controller is configured to control the attitude of the aircraft by actively controlling a position of a winglet at a distal end of a wing portion of a wing of the aircraft, relative to the wing portion, thereby to control an angle of incidence of the winglet.

Thermally configurable structural elements (e.g., aircraft components such as an aircraft winglet spar) capable of assuming at least first and second structural configurations are provided whereby the structural element includes an integral actuation mechanism may be formed of sintered shape memory alloy (SMA) particles and sintered non-SMA particles formed by an additive layer manufacturing (ALM) process, such as 3D printing. The ALM process thereby provides by at least one thermally configurable region, and at least one non-thermally configurable region which is unitarily contiguous with the at least one thermally configurable region. The at least one thermally configurable region is capable of assuming at least first and second positional orientations in response to the presence or absence of a thermal input to thereby cause the structural element to assume the at least first and second structural configurations, respectively.

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to the technical field of unmanned aerial vehicles, in particular to a tiltable wing and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The tiltable wing includes a wing body, a wingtip, a power device, a cable, a rotating shaft and a driving mechanism. The power device is mounted on the wingtip; one end of the cable is connected to the power device, the rotating shaft is rotatably connected to the wing body and the wingtip, respectively, a through hole is disposed in an axial direction of the rotating shaft, and the other end of the cable passes through the through hole and extends to the inside of the wing body; the driving mechanism is used for driving the wingtip to rotate with the rotating shaft as an axis; and the power device is switchable between a first preset position and a second preset position relative to the wing body, so that the power device is switched between a horizontal state and a vertical state.

The present invention Aircraft Wing with Tiplet reflects a wing with two distinct sections including inner section for maximized lift production with long chords, high taper, and ultra-thin airfoils for substantial profile drag reduction, as well as a tiplet section with minimized area and maximized span to minimize aspect ratio penalty from the standpoint of increased induced drag mitigation due to large inner section lifting area. Long chords and large area of inner section are feasible from the standpoint of flight safety with the application of airfoils with forward center of pressure that provide for dynamic stability of aircraft in flight.

An aircraft wing (1) has a wing tip device (3) joined thereto. The root (7) of the wing tip device (3) is joined to the tip of the wing (1) at a first connection (11). An external strut (9) extends between the wing (1) and the wing tip device (3), the strut (9) being joined to the wing (1) at a second connection (13). The second connection (13) is inboard of the first connection, such that loadings on the wing tip device (3) generated during use, are transferred, via the strut (9), to a location on the wing (1) that is inboard of where the root (7) of the wing tip device (3) is joined to the tip of the wing.

An aircraft wing (1) including a fixed wing (3) and a wing tip device (4) at the tip of the fixed wing (3), the wing tip device (4) being rotatable relative to the fixed wing (3) between a flight configuration (4a) for use during flight, and a ground configuration (4b) for use during ground-based operations, in which ground configuration the wing tip device (4) is rotated relative to the fixed wing (3) such that the span of the wing (1) is reduced. The aircraft wing (1) has a gear assembly (31) that couples the wing tip device (4) to an actuator (30) such that the actuator (30) drives the rotation of the wing tip device (4) between the flight and ground configurations, the gear assembly (31) comprising a worm drive (32).

The invention provides an aircraft comprising an aircraft wing. The aircraft wing comprises a fixed wing and a wing tip device at the tip thereof, wherein the wing tip device is configurable between: (i) a locked flight configuration for use during flight and (ii) a ground configuration for use during ground-based operations, in which ground configuration the wing tip device is moved away from the flight configuration such that the span of the aircraft wing is reduced. The aircraft wing further comprises a locking mechanism for locking the folding wing tip device in the flight configuration. The locking mechanism comprises a locking hook associated with one of the folding wing tip device and the fixed wing, and a locking pin associated with the other of the folding wing tip device and the fixed wing, and a biasing device, wherein in the locked configuration the locking pin is engaged with the locking hook and the biasing device acts to preload the locking mechanism.