Variable geometry wings

[LORDPrometheus]

Anyone interested in a variable geometry wing mod. I know its possible (to a degree) with infernal robotics but the transition is so awkward that planes don't tend to survive a transition very well.

Aircraft use variable geometry wings to allow high performance at both supersonic and subsonic speeds by changing the wing shape. This works because a low aspect ratio swept wing aircraft has lower drag and therefore is better at high speeds and a high aspect ratio wing provides more lift reducing stall speed and improving efficiency but greatly increasing drag.

Notable aircraft examples are the B1-b lancer and F-14 tomcat which transition their wing angles to improve range and allow shorter runway takeoff and landings but let them also fly at supersonic speeds.

I have no modding or modeling experience. If I did I would make them myself.

Please.

[RainDreamer]

Someone actually tried it and made a custom wing using IR for it, but as far as I know, while it is flyable, it also have a host of problems. Not sure about progress, and I forgot the link...sorry.

[Darren9]

AFAIK it's only FAR that can detect/adjust for wing aspect ratio, and it can't detect/adjust an animated single part, it'll only use it's initial position. The wing part has to be on a moving joint for FAR to notice it move and that's already the same problems of making an IR one?

[frizzank]

A simpler mod would just change the lift and drag components of the wing when you clicked the button to transition the wings as it played the animation.

extended drag = .2

swept drag = .125

extended lift = 2

swept lift = 1.25

If someone would write the plugin for it I would be more than happy to model and animate the wings.

[Van Disaster]

AFAIK it's only FAR that can detect/adjust for wing aspect ratio, and it can't detect/adjust an animated single part, it'll only use it's initial position. The wing part has to be on a moving joint for FAR to notice it move and that's already the same problems of making an IR one?

I suspect you could tell FAR to change the wing's parameters on the fly, but that would again need a custom plugin. If you want to see how to pass initial parameters to FAR then check either of the procedural wing mods; updating it during flight I don't know about, because I don't think anyone's done it yet.

The problem with IR is basically weak joints and unsuitable models, I'm fairly sure both could be solved with a custom wing glove model.

[kerbiloid]

http://forum.kerbalspaceprogram.com/threads/110061-Parts-Time-for-Variable-Sweep-Wings!-Powered-by-Infernal-Robotics

[stupid_chris]

A simpler mod would just change the lift and drag components of the wing when you clicked the button to transition the wings as it played the animation.

extended drag = .2

swept drag = .125

extended lift = 2

swept lift = 1.25

If someone would write the plugin for it I would be more than happy to model and animate the wings.

That's like a five minutes mod to code. Just the drag coefficient to change and changing the lifty coefficient of the associated lift module.

[TMS]

A simpler mod would just change the lift and drag components of the wing when you clicked the button to transition the wings as it played the animation.

extended drag = .2

swept drag = .125

extended lift = 2

swept lift = 1.25

If someone would write the plugin for it I would be more than happy to model and animate the wings.

That's like a five minutes mod to code. Just the drag coefficient to change and changing the lifty coefficient of the associated lift module.

I have often imagined a telescopic canard with this exact function and perhaps multiple levels of extension - effectively allowing the CoM/CoL to be rebalanced in-flight.

At one point, I was holding onto this idea as a possible motivation to learn how to code for KSP. Alas, time got away from me.

[LORDPrometheus]

So is this a yes were intereted or a yes that's a cool concept have fun with that? Lol

[Sampa]

I also like the idea for the concept, but I think we should wait for the new stock physics to be implemented