foldable wings

[JtPB]

and i dont mean to the wings of the F-14 or Mig-23 planes, but a set of wings which will fold completly into small pack which will not prduce any lift & much less drag while moving through the atmosphere. it will be useful if you want to launch a top-atmosphere ion glider or a glider probe to another planet with atmosphere, so those wings will not disturb the launch. it will also be useful for making paragliders if you want to choose your landing site more precisly on atmosphere present planets.

Edited June 18, 2014 by JtPB

[r4pt0r]

simplify your request to say "powered hinges" those would enable so much. custom cargo bays, a stock space arm like the shuttle or iss has, rudimentary interplanetary walkers, alternate wing designs like yours, a catapult for jeb...

[UbioZur]

simplify your request to say "powered hinges" those would enable so much. custom cargo bays, a stock space arm like the shuttle or iss has, rudimentary interplanetary walkers, alternate wing designs like yours, a catapult for jeb...

That would also bring the suggestion as part of the Robotics / mechanics of the what not to suggest list.

I do hope we could find some foldable wings like you describe (kind of the solar panel but with wings) in the futur, since it could bring extraplanet atmospheric exploration to another level. I am sure as they add more content and refine them, we will find a mechanism for it (don't quote me, I am not related with the dev), since it has been suggested several times.

I guess until then you could try to build your own version with Anatid robotics and wings. That could be a nice design challenge.

[JtPB]

simplify your request to say "powered hinges" those would enable so much. custom cargo bays, a stock space arm like the shuttle or iss has, rudimentary interplanetary walkers, alternate wing designs like yours, a catapult for jeb...

the problem is, that with the current aerodynamics in KSP even the packed wing you described produces lift, unless you use Ferram. my idea is a wing that you can retract & extend & by that adjusting the lift you want

[sumghai]

Like this?

The only realistic and sensible way to have a wing that is foldable into a very compact package in KSP is if they were made of a non-permeable fabric/plastic that would be inflated like balloons - note that obviously, they would have some real-world limitations such as being quite fragile in general and unable to survive the heat and/or stresses of re-entry*.

*I need to make this clear, since months ago I was involved in a heated discussion in the add-on request section with a bunch of folks with unrealistic expectations of material properties and limits.

[RidingTheFlow]

That would also bring the suggestion as part of the Robotics / mechanics of the what not to suggest list.

I'd say foldable/variable geometry wings already fall under "Mechanics" category...

[Red Iron Crown]

I guess until then you could try to build your own version with Anatid robotics and wings. That could be a nice design challenge.

I think you linked the wrong robotics thread by mistake, that one's about MechJeb. Infernal Robotics is the mod for moving parts.

[pizzaoverhead]

This suggestion sounds closer to the Rogallo wing that was proposed for the Gemini capsules:

It is as much a motorised mechanical machine as a parachute is.

[Tortoise]

For now, you can use infernal robotics.

[Sky_walker]

simplify your request to say "powered hinges" those would enable so much. custom cargo bays, a stock space arm like the shuttle or iss has, rudimentary interplanetary walkers, alternate wing designs like yours, a catapult for jeb...

+1. I'd love to see powered hinges. These would open a whole new world of design possibilities.

[dryer_lint]

We already have similar systems in the solar panels... can't be that hard to make them into wings, can it?

[meve12]

-snip-

Wow, that's pretty neat. Now I wish someone would mod that in, it'd go well with bi-conic reentry capsules.