F
rom John W. Dunne’s experiments
in 1907 through the Jack Northrop
aircraft that led to the B-2 bomber,
some aviation designers have been
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means of using an aircraft’s entire
structure as a lifting surface. Since at
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On April 1 researchers from the
National Aeronautics and Space Ad-
min istration, in conjunction with the5I[[IKP][M\\[1V[\Q\]\MWN<MKPVWTWOa
unveiled a wing that combines the
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surface. A lattice structure of triangular
struts incorporating hundreds of iden-
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material, this lightweight adaptive wing
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up to vast fuel savings. As was the case
with wing warping on the earliest air-
planes, but to a much more functionaldegree, the wing can also be used to
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rudder, elevators or ailerons.
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Research Center in Virginia, the adap-
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than expected. “We’re able to gain
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said NASA research engineer Nicholas
Cramer. In addition to airplanes, the
NASA/MIT team envisions applica-
tions for airships, spacecraft and wing
turbine blades.
Jon GuttmanW
hen Boeing B-52H 60-034 was mothballed at Davis-
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bomber, dubbed Wise Guy, as its replacement. And when
personnel from Davis-Monthan’s
309th Aerospace Maintenance and
Regeneration Group checked out the
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cient plea scrawled in the cockpit:
“AMARG, this is 60-034, a cold war-
rior that stood sentinel over America
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Take good care of her...until we
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Time and Arizona desert heat had
taken its toll. “The jet had cracks in
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Master Sgt. Steven Sorge of the 307th Maintenance Squadron
at Barksdale AFB in Louisiana. “It also needed all its fuel cells
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Still, with 13 to 20 people working on it at a time, Wise Guy wasNASA’s Adaptive Flying Wing
B-52 Resurrected
From the Boneyard
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\WZQ[MNZWU\PM*WVMaIZL[QVKMGhost Rider in 2015. Wise Guy’s
full restoration will take a total of 500 personnel and $30 mil-
lion to complete, with plans to return the bomber to service in
MIZTaNEW LEASE ON LIFE
Colonel Robert Burgess gives a
thumbs-up (above) after delivering
the B-52H Wise Guy (left) from
Davis-Monthan AFB to Barksdale
AFB in Louisiana on May 14.