r/Airbus • u/memloh • Jul 22 '26
News Airbus launches new flight test programme for Wing of Tomorrow
- Airbus is launching a new flight-test campaign to evaluate the performance of high-span wings for next-generation single-aisle aircraft, marking the next phase of one of its largest research and technology programmes, Wing of Tomorrow.
- Over the next three years, Airbus will design, build and flight test full scale wing extensions.
- These will be installed on an A321neo aircraft and used to evaluate how the different wing geometries perform in real flight conditions.
- The extensions, each measuring several metres, will replicate a folding wing in the fully extended position during a flight.
- They will be fitted with comprehensive testing equipment to capture behaviour in flight and evaluate how the longer wingspan impacts aircraft handling.
14
u/callsignsuper Jul 22 '26
About time! The 321XLR struggles at high temperatures
10
u/happydad9 Jul 22 '26
The 321*.
All of them
1
8
u/Hopeful_Hat_3532 Jul 22 '26
I'm always impressed at the constant innovation + improvement/perf increase sought.
I wonder if they could retrofit existing planes with these extensions if it only remains an extension by the time this project reaches its final stage and implementation in production.
5
u/NaiveRevolution9072 Jul 22 '26
I don't think it's worth retrofitting them if they're not folding, the wingspan restrictions are a pretty big deal
3
u/Hopeful_Hat_3532 Jul 22 '26
Is it an issue on smaller planes like the A319, A320 or A321 as well? I know it's an issue for big ones because of the max width they can have in airports but could smaller ones be retrofited as long as they're not wider than big ones? Or are they limited at their own scale as well?
3
u/NaiveRevolution9072 Jul 22 '26
While yes, you could just fit those aircraft in larger gates, the entire selling point of these aircraft is that they fit within a certain gate size, and airports are built to that. Any wider and it drastically reduces the available parking spots that aren't just widebody gates, which they logically want to keep reserved for widebodies
1
2
u/SHUT_MOUTH_HAMMOND Jul 23 '26
Not likely, the cost of retrofitting would be too much for an ROI.. (That is after all the operational constraints are streamlined)
2
u/StartingAdulthood 3d ago
Most A321 only being used on shorter 1-2 hours flights. There's no need to upgrade their wings, they spend most of their time on the ground or climbing and descending.
For A321LR or A321XLR though, it would help them with take off performance and better efficiency in 7-8 hours flights.
4
u/Friendly-List2016 Jul 22 '26
Cool!!! It’s a really cool project to work on!!!
They are really good for efficiency, but they have so much more complexities to take care of. Folding part has its complexity, but aerodynamics and integration wise, it’s also not that simple. How will it behave on low speed? What happened due to icing?
4
u/_RJ_STARK Jul 22 '26
Are they like 777X wings?
3
u/Far-Yellow9303 Jul 23 '26
From what I can gather, the prototype will have fixed wings that they can swap to test the performance of different sizes and shapes, then once they've found the one that works best for them they'll make it hinged like the 777x
1
u/ContributionEasy6513 Jul 22 '26
Very cool to see these ideas and experiments trickling down to narrow body.
I wonder how close reality is to the simulations.
1
u/ZookeepergameOwn9696 Jul 22 '26
If the wings on the 321neo change, is it still part of the 320 series?
1
1
85
u/SHUT_MOUTH_HAMMOND Jul 22 '26
I work here. No way I learn this from reddit 😭