NASA Is Testing New Technology To Fold Aircraft Wings In Flight

NASA conducts a flight test series to investigate the ability of an innovative technology to fold the outer portions of wings in flight as part of the Spanwise Adaptive Wing project, or SAW.

Flight tests took place at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California, using a subscale UAV called Prototype Technology-Evaluation Research Aircraft, or PTERA, provided by Area-I.

NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland developed the alloy material, and worked with Boeing Research & Technology to integrate the material into an actuator.

The alloy is triggered by temperature to move the outer portions of wings up or down in flight.The ability to fold wings to the ideal position of various flight conditions may produce several aerodynamic benefits for both subsonic and supersonic aircraft.

Pick Up Truck Hydraulic Lift

The trouble with snowmobile trailers is that they’re not always convenient and sometimes can be a nuisance, especially in crowded parking lots or narrow mountain roads.That’s where a good snowmobile deck comes in. Your snowmobiles are literally part of your truck.

And TuffLift has created a hydraulic deck capable of carrying three snowmobiles (or whatever other motorized toys you haul).With a load capacity from 2,500 to 4,000 pounds, the TuffLift is designed to easily load and secure your snowmobile and lift it up onto your truck bed at a push of a button.

Using the best hardware and clamps, TuffLift makes it easy to load and unload, allowing you to stay at ground level so there’s no climbing up and down ramps. It is versatile and can adapt to practically any hauling use. And it allows access to your tow hitch if you need to tow a trailer.

The ultimate hydraulic UTV lift that will help you to use your full-size pickup to become the ultimate tow rig, even without the extra expense of a trailer or the potential expense of having to drop your machine out of the back of the truck.

The Real Life Sci-Fi of Vertical Take-Off Planes

The Real Life Sci-Fi of Vertical Take-Off Planes

Vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft include fixed-wing aircraft that can hover, take off and land vertically, as well as helicopters and other aircraft with powered rotors, such as tiltrotors. Some VTOL aircraft can operate in other modes as well, such as CTOL – conventional takeoff and landing, STOL -short takeoff and landing, and/or STOVL short takeoff and vertical landing.

Others, such as some helicopters, can only operate by VTOL, due to the aircraft lacking landing gear that can handle horizontal motion.Vertical take-off and landing craft require less physical space and infrastructure to get into the air compared to traditional planes. That means more fighters on a single aircraft carrier, or smaller airports in more remote places.

Vertical takeoff planes are basically science-fiction, except they’re real. This video describes the the amazing technology behind vertical take-off and landing aircraft and the early history of vertical takeoff attempts, which mostly involved helicopter-like rotors. Besides the Osprey which itself is a technological marvel, none of those planes worked.

To take off or land vertically, the powerful exhaust streams from a jet engine can be directed downward as well as backward, and their direction can be changed in mid-flight. This allows fixed-wing aircraft, such as the Harrier or the F-35B, to take off vertically, fly forward, stop in mid-air, back up, and land vertically.