What Are the Advantages of Aircraft Winglets

Since the advent of more advanced flight technology, constant improvements have been made to aircraft that have greatly increased the efficiency of flight. As a standard piece of equipment on many airliners and private jets, an aircraft winglet is a section of the wing in which the end turns upwards. With their implementation on an aircraft, drag can be reduced alongside the creation of lift, allowing for aircraft to fly well while drawing less power from the engine. As such, many airliners and aircraft operators often invest in winglets in order to improve fuel efficiency, both lowering CO2 emissions and operating costs. Before deciding whether or not aircraft winglets are a good fit for your aircraft, however, it is important to be well aware of how they function.

In the realm of aerodynamics and aircraft flight, the two most important factors are lift and drag. While lift is a force that can be manipulated by flight surfaces to push the aircraft upwards, drag is the opposing force that acts as a resistance. Resistant forces of drag are often produced under the wing where air is at a higher pressure. With lower air pressure above the wing, the higher pressure air quickly flows upwards and backwards off the wing, spinning off to become wingtip vortices. These forces can prove detrimental to other nearby aircraft and create induced drag, thus implemented solutions such as winglets are useful to offset vortices.

Beyond combating the negative effects of induced drag, winglets also generate forces that are angled inward and forward, similar to those created by the sail of a boat. As a result, the winglets can harness energy that would typically be wasted and transform it into positive thrust. As such, aircraft that utilize winglets may see an improvement of their general performance, all while reducing the amount of emissions produced.

While the same solution to combating drag and increasing lift can be achieved by extending the wingspan of an aircraft, such an endeavor often proves very difficult. For one, increasing the wingspan of larger aircraft can affect their ability to be stored, as well as make ground operations difficult as some airport gates may not be able to accommodate such designs. As such, winglets provide a middle ground solution to achieve more beneficial aerodynamics while maintaining an optimal wingspan.

Since the advent of winglets in the 1970’s, a number of aircraft manufacturers and engineers have steadily made improvements to the technology to further their advantages. On aircraft such as the Boeing 737, 757, and 767, second generation winglets with a greater curvature have been used. With such equipment, the particular Boeing aircraft have seen upwards of a six percent increase in their fuel burning efficiencies. Furthermore, Boeing has even begun to install third generation winglets on their newer 737 Max airliner models, and these newer technologies have further increased savings.

As technology continues to advance, more efficient winglets and wingtip designs may come about to save money, increase fuel efficiency, and improve flight capabilities for many aircraft. Regardless, any wingtip fixture can be extremely beneficial to a number of aircraft and aircraft types. When you are in the market for premium aircraft components that you can steadily rely on to carry out your operations, let the experts at ASAP Part services help you secure everything you need with ease. With competitive pricing on winglet tip right and winglet tip left components, we can provide you cost savings to help you improve the flight efficiency of your aircraft. Explore our robust part catalogs at your leisure, and you may begin the purchasing process at any time by filling out and submitting an Instant RFQ form as provided through our website.