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In aeronautics, a flexible wing is an airfoil or aircraft wing which can deform in flight.
Early pioneer aeroplanes such as the Wright flyer used the flexible characteristics of lightweight construction to control flight through wing warping. Others made collapsible wings for folding away, such as the flying car designs by Gustave Whitehead.
Since the 1960s flexible wings have dominated hang glider and ultralight aircraft designs, with such types as the delta-shaped Rogallo wing and the fully collapsible paraglider.
More recently, the advent of high-strength flexible materials and other advanced technologies has renewed interest in the use of flexing for control purposes.