Researchers at the Engineering School at Princeton University have taken inspiration from birds to improve flight performance and safety in aircraft. The researchers deployed rows of flaps to the wing ...

Ahmed K. Othman, Girguis Sedky, Hannah Wiswell and Aimy Wissa (left to right) equipped the wings of an RC plane with covert-inspired flaps, and flew it at Princeton's Forrestal Campus to prove that ...

Whether they’re opening for takeoff, spreading wide for a lazy soar or flapping to brake for landing, bird wings make flying look almost effortless.

Airplane plumage might be the next big thing in aviation. Bird wings are contoured with overlapping rows of feathery tufts, spreading out from near the shoulder. These “covert feathers” help birds ...

On a warm summer morning at Princeton University, aerospace engineer Aimy Wissa was at the university helipad, preparing to fly a remote-controlled plane. But this wasn’t just any model aircraft.

Engineers found a way to help airplanes avoid stall with lightweight plastic flaps that flutter with pressure changes. The flaps mimick a class of feathers that are key to birds' most daring aerial ...