became far more controllable in the lateral plane. Current technology has allowed scientists to revisit the concept of wing warping (also known as morphing wings). Applications Wing warping was a common feature of early aircraft, including: The Albatross (1868) The Wright Flyer (1903) The Santos-Dumont Demoiselle (1907), the first homebuilt. The Antoinette V (1908), a wing-warping variant of the Antoinette IV The Blériot XI (1909), which made the first flight across a major body of water, namely the English Channel. The Etrich Taube (1910) originally used a cable-warped horizontal stabilizer to give elevator functionality as well The Nieuport IV (1911) racing and sport monoplane used for the first loop. The Bristol Coanda Monoplanes (1912), whose structural failures (along with those of a Deperdussin monoplane) led to a ban on monoplanes with the Royal Flying Corps. The early versions of the Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 (1912) used wing warping, while the "C" variant and later used ailerons. The Morane-Saulnier L (1913), the first fighter aircraft, and the first to shoot down another aircraft. The Morane-Saulnier N (1914), a World War I French scout derived from the previous G and H The Caudron G.4 (1915), a French biplane with twin engines. The Fokker Eindecker (1915), the first German fighter aircraft. The Fokker D.III (1916), one of the last operational fighters with wing warping. The Christmas Bullet (1919), whose wing warping and unbraced sprung steel spars contributed to its notoriety. Modern re-assessment Several of the reproduction planes built for the film Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines used the wing warping control systems of the original aircraft – with mixed results. The wing warping of the Avro Triplane proved surprisingly successful, whereas on the reproduction Antoinette, with its very flexible wing, wing warping offered little effective lateral control. Since the original Antoinette-style ailerons would have probably been even less effective, unobtrusive "modern" ailerons were inserted – even with these, lateral control remained very poor. Wing morphing is a modern-day extension of wing warping in which the aerodynamic shape of the wing is modified under computer control. Research into this field is mainly conducted by NASA such as with the Mission Adaptive Wing (MAW) trialed from 1985 on the General Dynamics–Boeing AFTI/F-111A Aardvark. Many major companies and scientists are working on developing morphing wings. NASA is working to develop a morphing wing made of cells that will twist to mimic birds. The cells