I have been obsessed with @madamadamiu s lost light cat shelter AU so here is my headcannon for drifts backstory (I scribbled this out as fast as humanly possible) :
Deadlock escapes animal control when they bust megatron’s colony, only for wing to hit him with his car almost immediately after. He raced him to a vet and ended up adopting him.
Wing thinks he has a gray coat, until he tries to wash him…. (This is how I’m incorporating the frame and color scheme change lmao)
Wing dies of an unexpected heart attack a year or so later, resulting in drift ending up at the lost light cat shelter.
He loves his insane cat!! Drift appreciates him, and wing isn’t so lonely anymore :)
I still feel robbed of only having Wing in one comic run, his design was awesome and he was just a loveable character. Yet here we are with Wing only being in one comic run, to make up for that robbed feeling I offer some Wing panels.
Wing commission I got at TFCon LA 2019, by Alex Milne, because I was desperate to have reference for his alt mode, from the source.
Also, an info dump of speculation on his alt mode and flying capabilities from...2012 apparently, that I'm finally posting to tumblr.
For the Alt Mode Curious....
Canon makes no reference to Wing's alt mode but it's fairly easy to make some logical presumptions and then extrapolate from there. Cybertronian designations are always reflective of the character in some way, so it's no surprise that Wing would be considered an airframe, and one that excels at flying. We never see him transform in canon but it's assumed that he can, and given his kibble it's also assumed he's a jet. In my personal estimation of what kind of jet he is, I could easily and concisely summarize him as the hummingbird of jets, thanks to size, speed, maneuverability and ability to withstand heavy g-forces.
Size
Given that Wing is the same size as Drift in root mode, he's small for a jet, about 2/3s the size of the average seeker like Starscream. This affords him several advantages (smaller target, lighter/faster, easier to maneuver) at the cost of some disadvantages, (small payload/cockpit, less armaments, turbulence prone).
Speed
In canon, Starscream proclaims he and the other seekers can do mach 3, (Megatron Origin #3). Given the size of Wing's engine nacelles in relation to his overall mass, particularly compared to bigger, bulkier seekers with equal or smaller engine mass, he must be capable of equal or even greater speeds. (Granted tech level and engineering might make a difference, but we know that Crystal City is comparable--if different--to mainstream Cybertronian tech thanks to Perceptor's assessment in the Drift Spotlight.)
Wing is likely only moderately armored, a compromise between being a melee fighter who needs the protection and an airframe who needs less weight. Wing also has no ranged weaponry thanks to firearms being forbidden among the Circle's Knights. Lack of weapons also makes for a speed advantage due to less weight compared to fliers with weapons systems. (He may or may not have had light weaponry before joining, but it's unlikely to be more than that. I have headcanon on this, relevant to my version of his origin story.)
Maneuvering and Aerial Combat
What he gives up in firepower and armor he makes up for in maneuverability. Similar to his melee fighting style, evasion and tactical maneuvering are his key defensive strategies when fighting in the air. He is quick and agile, able to cut turns, bank sharply and perform double-backs far better than larger, heavier aircraft. He frequently enjoys stunt flying and aerial acrobatics.
His transformation is quick, allowing him to shift to root mode and attack opponents in mid-air with his energy blades, leaping short distances between them, and returning to alt mode when needed. This gives him the flexibility to bring a variety of unexpected melee tactics to bear when engaging in mid-air combat--including using gravity and jet-born momentum to his advantage--even if he cannot engage in classic dogfights. (This is one of several types of martial combat he received training in from the Circle.)
In canon, while in root mode, we see him extend his wings and use small thrusters on his back, so it's a safe assumption that he has normal flight capability in root mode, though much more limited compared to his alt mode. I believe the pinions on his shoulder nacelles help with maneuverability in root mode, same as the blades/guards on his arms and knees. The audial flares on his helm carry the same sensor suite as his wings do, and are better situated to collect data when flying in root mode.
Frame Design
To support the above capabilities, I believe Wing would have variable wing design, effectively giving his alt mode a two configurations: his standard forward swept wing that has excellent maneuvering and agility at normal speeds, and a more swept (delta) configuration for extremely high speed travel. I imagine the shift being most effective at supersonic speeds (Mach 1+). (The seekers in WoC have something similar to this, except that they shift between a hover mode and a flight mode.) Wing can hover and has general VTOL capabilities (which seems fairly common for Cybertronian jets), but it's inferior to a rotary's (not fuel efficient nor as precise).
His VTOL system (vertical takeoff and landing) is grav-based for lift, his nacelles provide forward power and he uses a vectored thrust system to maneuver when VTOL is engaged. We know he has at least two small thrusters on his back in root mode, so it makes sense they'd be useful in alt as well. He has simple landing struts for when he needs to be stationary on the ground in alt mode. He likely never had need for a true cockpit, but instead would have a small storage/cargo space instead. (much of this comes from my headcanon for his pre-war history as a courier.)
He's the only flier we see in all of IDW with such a complex folded wing design in root mode, so I suspect this is either a very old or very new engineering development, possibly one of the advancements made by Crystal City frame engineers. In an space ship or underground city where space is at a premium and quarters might be tight, folded panels would be a reasonable and beneficial development. If that's the case, it would mean his pre-war root mode would not have had folded wing panels. (Either is possible, and I go back and forth on which I prefer.)
Notes
I've attempted to base this as strongly off canon as I can (where possible) and real world aeronautics/physics/science to a degree (we all know how much Transformers complies to the laws of physics, LOLWHUT) though there's probably things I've missed.
