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Winglet on KC-135 Stratotanker with attached tufts showing airflow during NASA tests in 1979–1980 Gulfstream V model winglet flutter tests at NASA Langley transonic wind tunnel. The term "winglet" was previously used to describe an additional lifting surface on an aircraft, like a short section between wheels on fixed undercarriage.
The winglet and red navigation light on the wing tip of a South African Airways Boeing 747-400 Many aircraft types, such as the Lockheed Super Constellation shown here, have fuel tanks mounted on the wing tips, commonly called tip tanks The wing tip of a Quad City Challenger II, formed with an aluminum bow The wing tip of a Grumman American AA-1, showing its Hoerner style design A Piper PA-28 ...
The Spiroid winglet is a closed wing surface attached to the tip of a conventional wing. Wingtip vortices form a major component of wake turbulence and are associated with induced drag, which is a significant contributor to total drag in most regimes. A closed wing avoids the need for wingtips and thus might be expected to reduce wingtip drag ...
Winglets have the opposite effect to washout. Winglets allow a greater proportion of lift to be generated near the wing tips. (This can be described as aerodynamic wash-in.) Winglets also promote a greater bending moment at the wing root, possibly necessitating a heavier wing structure
Air brakes are usually surfaces that deflect outwards from the fuselage (in most cases symmetrically on opposing sides) into the airstream in order to increase form-drag. As they are in most cases located elsewhere on the aircraft, they do not directly affect the lift generated by the wing. Their purpose is to slow down the aircraft.
On landing behind an airplane the aircraft should stay above the earlier one's flight path and touch down further along the runway. [11] Glider pilots routinely practice flying in wingtip vortices when they do a maneuver called "boxing the wake". This involves descending from the higher to lower position behind a tow plane.
Planes can withstand the weather. Next time you’re flying through turbulence, look out the window at the wing. You’ll notice it flexing. It’s supposed to do that.
A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be modified during flight, swept back and then returned to its previous straight position. Because it allows the aircraft's shape to be changed, it is a feature of a variable-geometry aircraft.