Flexible wings may be quite possible.

[FastCargo]

There have been a few folks who have asked about the idea of flexible wings...for instance the U-2 and B-52 both have long wings that look very different at speed vs on the ground.

 

So donning my 'mad modder' hat, I decided to add a one piece wing to the T-38 model to test a possibility.

 

Here's the model in game on takeoff:

 

 

The wing is one piece and part of the model...currently only has a material applied, no texture.

 

The following is a sequence of pictures I took in the middle of the process.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So far, it looks totally possible. The trick I think would be to have it speed dependent, and to make sure anything 'attached' to it moves with the 'flexing'.

 

FastCargo

[+SidDogg]

hmmm..... interesting

 

that means maybe MF might be able to do it with their Tomcat and Hornet, eh?

[FastCargo]

IMHO it wouldn't be worth it on those aircraft...fighters don't flex nearly as much as very large, thin wing aircraft.

 

FastCargo

[+76.IAP-Blackbird]

Great idea something like the swingwings on the cat or the tornado?! Not bad this idea!! Like it!

[+SidDogg]

IMHO it wouldn't be worth it on those aircraft...fighters don't flex nearly as much as very large, thin wing aircraft.

 

FastCargo

true... but i mean during high G maneuvers, it's quite obvious to see in real life

[+Bongodriver]

B-52

[vrkuboy]

awesome!!! maybe thise usable to helicopter rotor !!!

[HrntFixr]

true... but i mean during high G maneuvers, it's quite obvious to see in real life

 

... if a hornets wing flexed like your thinking ... they would all be here getting re-fitted.

After being in the hornet community for over 10 years I can tell you they don't flex but less than an inch or so. The Lex fences were added to "split" the air going over the vert's so they wouldn't flex.

[+SidDogg]

... if a hornets wing flexed like your thinking ... they would all be here getting re-fitted.

After being in the hornet community for over 10 years I can tell you they don't flex but less than an inch or so. The Lex fences were added to "split" the air going over the vert's so they wouldn't flex.

 

ahhh i see

[+streakeagle]

Nice work!

B-52 and U-2 were the aircraft I had in mind when I brought this up at Third Wire.

[FastCargo]

Well, I'll let you guys know how I did it for any future modders to take advantage of the technique.

 

The TW engine supports animation to move, rotate and scale whole mesh pieces. But it only supports scaling of vertices (not moving or rotating). And you cannot combine vertex scaling with any other animation for that piece within the 10 frame block.

 

So how to create a 'bending' wing.

 

One way is to physically break up the wing and animate the pieces using the conventional move/rotate/scale for each piece and minimize the seams (hopefully).

 

My method is different. I use vertex scaling.

 

In the example above, I created a cylinder in the general shape and size you see above, then flattened it to the shape of a wing airfoil, then converted it to a editable poly.

 

Now, to make the wing bend up and down, i would normally have to move each 'cross section' of vertices and set them how you would think. But the TW engine will not support this.

 

Instead, make a clone of the wing, and slide it vertically several thousand meters upward. Then, go to your clone part that you just moved, and delete everything except rows of vertices that lie (above) the verticies of the original wing. Then select all those 'ghost' verticies and your lower wing and combine them into one object. You now have a aircraft part that has a bunch of verticles that lie outside the mesh, and are completely invisible.

 

Now, lets select our mesh, and select one 'cross section' of verticies, including the coorsponding 'invisible' ones WAY up high. Now, scale them...vertically only. Note what happens...that part of the wing appears to 'move' upward. Now it will get thinner...however, the farther up the 'invisible' verticies are, the less the the 'cross section' of vertices will thin...hopefully to the point that it's not noticed.

 

Do this for the rest of the wing...adjusting the amount of 'scaling' appropriate to the distance from the 'anchor point' (usually where it attaches to the body).

 

Save and export. Congrats, you now a wing that can bend. You may be able to assign this as speed dependent in the data.ini.

 

The parts attached to the wing will have to be animated as well...probably using the 'move' function. It will be tedious, but it should work...that part I haven't tested.

 

Hope this helps somebody...

 

FastCargo