Fender & Wing - why call them that?

[vlc]

for i wonder where these terms/names originate from?

for i thought a fender was an electric guitar an only aircraft had wings?

[Pigeon]

vlc said:

only aircraft had wings?

I can confidently state that you are wrong on that one

"Fender" makes sense as a synonym for "bumper", as something to fend off bumps. The term is also used for the squashy plastic things (or the old tyres) used to protect boats from damage from the quayside. How it became generalised to include "wings" and motorcycle mudguards I'm not sure.

[vlc]

what would you say are rightly called 'wings' as on a car then?

the panels over the front wheels?

tho they dont make the car fly as i recall, handle better, but not fly.

[Pigeon]

Yeah, the wings are the panels with the wheelarches in them, which have evolved from mudguards by becoming joined to the body all along the inner edge. Things like the Morris Minor have rear wings as well. I'm not sure what you call the wheelarch-bearing rear panels on a hatchback.

As for flying - one of my more crazy ideas is for a motorcycle with a fairing shaped like a pigeon, with real wings that fold like a pigeon's, and provide aerodynamic lift when unfurled. Behind the seat is mounted a self-furling pusher prop to provide thrust when airborne.

More seriously, the wings on things like F1 cars - a better use of the term than for evolved mudguards - provide downforce which is several times greater than the weight of the car, so you could quite well drive them along the roof of a tunnel like the "Ford POS" in "Men in Black".