Design and evaluation of inflatable wings as a secondary wing during mid-flight emergencies

Inflatable wings have been demonstrated in many applications over the past five decades, including aircraft, UAVs, airships, and missile stabilization surfaces. Recent advancements in high strength fibers and rigidisable materials have enabled higher performance designs for modern application. This paper presents the methodology applied to optimally design an inflatable wing suitable to act as a secondary wing in case of mid-flight emergencies, with the help of widely known software, namely, Glenn research center by NASA. In this study, the application and efficiency of inflatables as an emergency wing in different aircrafts is successfully explored. Under the student foil interactive, the various design parameters of both airfoil and ellipse have also been explored to derive the benefits. By considering an ideal case where the camber would be zero, the analysis of the relationship between the angle of attack, thickness and lift to drag ratio have been closely observed and noted. In the further parts of this paper we will come to a conclusion about what parameters will be fit for an inflatable to behave as an emergency wing.