Cub:

Thought of this the other day. The Air Force tested an F-111 with a "bendable" leading and trailing edge back in the early 90s as I recall (Wiki didn't have an article [just the picture] and I couldn't find any dates). The link below is the only data I could find on a quick look.

By having a variable sweep and variable chord shape, it was the most "variable geometry/planform" ever flown.

So, there may be a resurgence, but the concept is at least two decades old. As an Mech Engineer, I would guess the biggest complications are fatigue/reliability of flexible wing skins, while keeping them light enough to be practical.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ai...FTI_NASA_0.jpg