At last, a shape-morphing aircraft wing is here

The long-sought elusive goal of practical, seamless control surface technologies to reduce drag and improve aircraft fuel efficiency—chased by the defense and commercial aviation industries and researchers for several decades—was finally realized with the introduction of a variable geometry airfoil, called FlexFoil, by FlexSys, Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich. The variable geometry surface completely replaces jointed wing flaps with a deformable, seamless surface that changes shape for optimized performance throughout the flight regime saving jet fuel.