Book excerpt: Morphing Wings Technologies: Large Commercial Aircraft and Civil Helicopters offers a fresh look at current research on morphing aircraft, including industry design, real manufactured prototypes and certification. This is an invaluable reference for students in the aeronautics and aerospace fields who need an introduction to the morphing discipline, as well as senior professionals seeking exposure to morphing potentialities. Practical applications of morphing devices are presented—from the challenge of conceptual design incorporating both structural and aerodynamic studies, to the most promising and potentially flyable solutions aimed at improving the performance of commercial aircraft and UAVs. Morphing aircraft are multi-role aircraft that change their external shape substantially to adapt to a changing mission environment during flight. The book consists of eight sections as well as an appendix which contains both updates on main systems evolution (skin, structure, actuator, sensor, and control systems) and a survey on the most significant achievements of integrated systems for large commercial aircraft. - Provides current worldwide status of morphing technologies, the industrial development expectations, and what is already available in terms of flying systems - Offers new perspectives on wing structure design and a new approach to general structural design - Discusses hot topics such as multifunctional materials and auxetic materials - Presents practical applications of morphing devices