Patent ID: 8104713

Claim:
A wing for deployment from an air frame, comprising: a wing box having a shape and outer mold line (OML) to form a first portion of the wing extending from a wing root attached to the air frame along at least a portion of the wing span and extending aft along at least portion of the wing chord length; a skin attached to the wing box, said skin having a shape and OML of a second portion of the wing; a plurality of plates when assembled having the shape and OML of at least a sub-portion of the second portion of the wing, said plates affixed to corresponding locations on said skin, said skin folds between said plates for storage in a constrained volume within the wing box; and an inflation mechanism in the wing box configured to inflate and unfold the skin to form said second portion of the wing and thereby assemble the plates to reinforce said sub-portion of the wing.