Winglets

Matters of general interest
User avatar
p3tr
Signed up at flight school
Posts: 29
Joined: Thu May 07, 2009 5:31 pm

Re: Winglets

Postby p3tr » Mon Jul 28, 2014 9:43 pm

i reckon with all the effort to minimize radar signature, some big vertical metal plates next to a fighter plane might be a no-no...
ZU-DFM
User avatar
Luan
First solo
Posts: 85
Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:47 am

Re: Winglets

Postby Luan » Wed Jul 30, 2014 11:52 am

Keen to try this miracle in flex wing aviation, need a little more info though. @Jhon.com did you see a difference in performance of the trike? Has anyone else tried them, perhaps here in reef conditions? The theory of operation is sound, then again so is putting a spoiler on your tazz.
User avatar
vernon11
Frequent Flyer
Frequent Flyer
Posts: 1256
Joined: Tue Jun 12, 2007 9:56 pm

Re: Winglets

Postby vernon11 » Wed Jul 30, 2014 6:29 pm

Hi Luan.
Get hold of Bryan Erasmus on this forum. (Bryan) he has fitted them, and says they definitely work.
Cheers,
Vernon.
User avatar
SHARKFIN
Thinking of flying
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri May 30, 2014 12:19 am
Location: Petit Airfield

Re: Winglets

Postby SHARKFIN » Fri Aug 01, 2014 9:19 pm

Apart from it looking great it does make a significant difference in the handling performance. I am sure that it has got to do with the fact that it minimizes the wing tip vortexes. Whatever......I feel a lot more relaxed with them on when flying in turbulent weather. It also increases the speed due to reduced wing tip drag.
Live it.
ZU-CDW Antares 618
bryan
Whats the right frequency?
Whats the right frequency?
Posts: 276
Joined: Thu Aug 13, 2009 9:22 am
Location: East London

Re: Winglets

Postby bryan » Sun Aug 03, 2014 9:56 pm

My personal experience results in still air is very good. 10 mph more with bar in about 90% . At slower speeds about 6mph more. Take off run definitely shorter here at the coast by at least 20% . Very stable in turbulent air. NOTE ,!!! THERE IS A DISADVANTAGE. When coming in to land the wing is not as nippy as before and so in getting close to the ground one cannot move around as easily as before. SO LINE UP PROPERLY OR GO ROUND. !
Regards
Bryan
User avatar
Nacho
Survived second engine out
Survived second engine out
Posts: 372
Joined: Thu Mar 06, 2008 9:40 am
Location: Crosswinds
Contact:

Re: Winglets

Postby Nacho » Wed Jun 03, 2015 3:13 pm

Read the attachments as well...

Closing Comments

Although the performance gains achieved with winglets are only a few percent at
moderate thermal strengths, such small differences can be an important factor in determining the
outcome of many cross-country flights or contests. For example, in a recent U.S. Open Class
Nationals, less than 1.5% of the points awarded to the first-place competitor separated the first six
places, far less than the performance advantage that can be achieved using winglets.
So, since their shaky introduction many years ago, the acceptance of winglets is now
widespread. Shortly after their introduction to sailplane racing, only 19 of the 105 gliders
competing at the World Championships in Uvalde, Texas in 1991 used winglets. At the present
time, sport and racing sailplanes in almost every class make use of winglets or some type of tip
treatment. Thus, after over a decade of winglets being applied to sailplanes, it is clear that the
benefits are far reaching. If properly designed such that the profile drag penalty is of no
consequence over the range of airspeed at which the glider is flown, then there seems to be no
reason whatsoever not to take advantage of the performance and handling qualities benefits that
winglets offer
Finally, although some of the spinning characteristics of gliders with winglets have been
explored, the testing has not been extensive. The anecdotal evidence, however, generally
indicates that gliders with winglets are more reluctant to spin, but once they do, the altitude
required for recovery is somewhat greater than for the glider not equipped. Given the large
number of glider fatalities that are a consequence of stall/spin accidents during approach, for
which the altitude required for recovery is already insufficient, a question worth pondering is
whether or not even the most basic training gliders might benefit from the installation of winglets.
Attachments
Winglets Part 1 of 3.pdf
(93.2 KiB) Downloaded 459 times
Winglets Part 2 of 3.pdf
(73.2 KiB) Downloaded 94 times
Winglets Part 3 of 3.pdf
(16.78 KiB) Downloaded 86 times
WvB aka Nacho
0847014988
wvbosch@gmail.com
ZU-FFS (-)

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 44 guests