noel.wade wrote:

snip


Furthermore, there's no getting around the fact that an actual
aircraft flight is a chaotic and ever-changing blend of different
conditions. For an aircraft to fly well overall, it needs to be a
compromise that can work reasonably under all of the disparate
conditions. And with current technology and materials (no matter how
exotic), there's no way to make a wing that can dynamically optimize
its shape in-flight and in reaction to all of the various conditions.
I look forward to the day when such technology exists; but I might
well be dead by that point (and I'm only 30 right now - but even as an
optimistic technology professional I just don't see it being a near-
term possibility).

Take care,

Makes me think of adaptive optics used to correct for atmospheric
turbulence degrading the image generated by large telescopes. The
medium the telescope is adapting to is the same, so I imagine the time
scale is similar to what an adaptive surface of a sailplane would need.
Could be kinda heavy equipping the wing with all those actuators though.
:-o

Shawn