Gull wing

The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. It has been incorporated in aircraft for many reasons.

The gull wing was first seen on a glider when the Weltensegler flew in 1921. Its wings were externally braced and featured swept-back wingtips. After the aircraft broke up, killing its pilot, the design feature stayed out of popular use. The gull wing made a resurgence in 1930 with Alexander Lippisch's record-breaking Fafnir. Lippisch used the configuration for its increased wingtip clearance and the ill-founded belief it improved stability in turns. However, studies have shown that normal gull wing configurations have significantly less severe and more easily recoverable stalls. Inverted gull wings show the opposite stall behaviour, but both normal and inverted gull wings impede lift/drag ratio and climb performance. The true success of the Fafnir's gull wing lay primarily in its aesthetic value; the gull wing would be a staple of the high-performance sailplanes of the time, until the 1950s.

Notable gull wing sailplanes:

The gull wing design found its way into seaplanes by the early 1930s. As engine power increased, so did the need for large propellers that could effectively convert power to thrust. The gull wing allowed designers to ensure adequate propeller tip clearance over the water by placing the engines on the highest point of the wing. The alternative was placing the engine on a pylon. Possibly the first flying boat to utilize the gull wing configuration was the Short Knuckleduster, which flew in 1933. The Dornier Do 26, a high-speed airliner and transport platform, of which 6 aircraft were built, flew in 1938. The configuration was also used on the US Navy's PBM Mariner and P5M Marlin maritime patrol aircraft. The emergence of long range, land-based jets in the 1950s and the subsequent demise of the seaplane prevented widespread use of the gull wing, although it was still used in some post-war designs, like Beriev Be-12 Chaika (the name means 'the gull' in Russian).

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