A plane with flapping wings that help to stop turbulence has been developed in Bristol.

The Airbus aircraft is the first to be built at the Filton site since Concorde.

AlbatrossOne is a remote-controlled plane inspired by the marine bird of the same name and has already taken its first flight.

The scale-model aeroplane is the first to have flapping wing tips - and could revolutionise aircraft wing design.

Airbus engineers drew on nature to develop the 'semi-aeroelastic hinge' concept to reduce drag and overall wing weight, while combating the effects of turbulence and wind gusts.

The AlbatrossOne in flight

The plane has been built with carbonfibre and glassfibre-reinforced polymers, as well as components from additive-layer manufacturing.

The team will now carry out further testing before the demonstrator plane, based on the manufacturer’s A321 aircraft, is scaled up further.

“While hinged wing-tips are not new – military jets employ them to allow greater storage capacity on aircraft carriers – the Airbus demonstrator is the first aircraft to trial in-flight, freely-flapping wing-tips to relieve the effects of wind gusts and turbulence,” explained Airbus engineer Tom Wilson, who is based in Filton.

“We drew inspiration from nature – the albatross marine bird locks its wings at the shoulder for long-distance soaring but unlocks them when wind-gusts occur or manoeuvering is required."

Jean-Brice Dumont, Airbus’ executive vice-president of engineering, says the project shows “how nature can inspire us”.

He said: “When there is a wind gust or turbulence, the wing of a conventional aircraft transmits huge loads to the fuselage, so the base of the wing must be heavily strengthened, adding weight to the aircraft.

“Allowing the wing-tips to react and flex to gusts reduces the loads and allows us to make lighter and longer wings – the longer the wing, the less drag it creates up to an optimum, so there are potentially more fuel efficiencies to exploit.”

The first test flights of the AlbatrossOne demonstrator took place earlier this year after a 20-month development programme.

Initial testing examined the plane's stability with the wing tips locked and unlocked.

“The next step is to conduct further tests to combine the two modes, allowing the wing-tips to unlock during flight and to examine the transition,” engineer James Kirk added.

The team presented their research at the International Forum on Aeroelasticity and Structural Dynamics conference in the United States this week.