Simviation Forums

Benefits
Depending on the airplane, its cargo, the airline's routes and other factors, winglets have the potential to give:


IMPROVED TAKEOFF PERFORMANCE
By allowing a steeper climb, winglets pay off in better takeoff performance, especially from obstacle-limited, high, hot, weight-limited, and/or noise-restricted airports. Performance Improved climb gradients increase 737-800 allowable takeoff weight (TOW).

Some examples include:
Chicago-Midway: ~1,600 lb additional TOW
Lanzarote (Canary Islands): ~3,500 lb additional TOW
Albuquerque, Denver, and Salt Lake City: ~4,400 lb additional TOW.

Whatever Boeing does with that 757W, it still looks like a Tupolev ripoff

Whatever Boeing does with that 757W, it still looks like a Tupolev ripoff

Or vice versa...

and back to the main text...

Airbus build airliners as well you know too... The have "wee" winglets.

Airbus have to go back to the drawing board on Winglets. The wake turbulenceon the A380 is actually a heck of alot worse than they ever predicted which means they have to increase seperation on finals and take-offs meaning its overall benifit to airports is -66% yes its actually 66% worse for airports than predicted.
Personally I prefer the raked wingtips used on the 777 and newer boeings, they look alot better and they are apparently as efficient if not more than the classic winglet.

Airbus have to go back to the drawing board on Winglets.

I have to admit I've been surprised at the lack of change by Airbus in the wing tip department. Having said that, they recruit the best of the best engineering brains in Europe and the rest of the world, so they know what they're doing...

Well apparently they dont as they really messed up on their predictions this time. The only real solution right now is to either decrease the weight of the aircraft, or to increase the size of the wing. Seeing as that wing is huge already. They need to put that whale on a weight watchers program.

Winglets...okay on the 73x, ugly as hell on every other a/c.

Don't know if they can improve the A380 and it's wake turbulence issues wihtout it costing them a  fortune...

Seeing that vortices are proportional to aircraft weight and contra-proportional to its speed.
Big airplane at slow speeds will give you the worst vortices. At high AoA, you even get nasty wake turbulence from engine pods and the nose. Given that the A380 has a rather bulky nose and 4 pods  ::)

But I have to say AB winglets looks rather puny compared to their counterpart on Boeings  ???

IM sure Ill enjoy reading this later, but I dont see a mention of increased safety.  Because the wingtip vortices are reduced, safety for other aircraft is increased, as the vortices can cause severe problems with the lift of a wing that enters one left behind by another plane.  Just my input

Because the wingtip vortices are reduced, safety for other aircraft is increased, as the vortices can cause severe problems with the lift of a wing that enters one left behind by another plane.  Just my input

My parents returned from Las Vegas last week, I picked them up at JFK.
I asked the old question, "So how was the flight?"
They said everything was fine except about a half hour before landing, the plane suddenly lurched upward and one of the stewards who was in the isle actually fell on the floor!!
The captain got on and said that he was sorry about that but another plane in front of them had left some turbulence in their path!

No doubt probably from a winglet!

Dave

[quote]Don't know if they can improve the A380 and it's wake turbulence issues wihtout it costing them a