Gertrude Rogallo
Encyclopedia
Rogallo wing
The Rogallo wing is a flexible type of airfoil. In 1948, Gertrude Rogallo, and her husband Francis Rogallo, a NASA engineer, invented a self-inflating flexible wing they called the Parawing, also known after them as the "Rogallo Wing" and flexible wing...
s. She and her husband, Francis Rogallo
Francis Rogallo
Francis Melvin Rogallo was an American aeronautical engineer inventor born in Sanger, California, U.S.A.; he is credited with the invention of the Rogallo wing, or "flexible wing", a precursor to the modern hang glider and paraglider...
, invented the wing and obtained two US patent
Patent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
s on different versions of it in the early 1950s. Rogallo wings are commonly used today in kites
Sport kite
A sport kite, also commonly known as a stunt kite, is a kite that can be maneuvred in the air.A related kit also controllable and used for recreation, but capable of generating a significant amount of pull and used for providing movement is the Power kite.-Competition:Developments in multi-line...
, hang gliders and powered hang glider
Powered Hang Glider
A foot-launched powered hang glider , also called powered harness, nanolight, or hangmotor, is a powered hang glider harness with a motor and propeller in pusher configuration...
s.