Flight testing of the first version of the spiroid winglet in 1993 resulted in refinements to the design that led to more of an squared arch design with the inboard section moved aft and outboard to bring it closer to the wingtip vortex. The refined spiroid design was flight tested on a #Dassault #Falcon50 in August 2010. The winglets and structural strengthening needed added 550 pounds to the jet. This Falcon 50 made its first public appearance at the 2010 AirVenture air show at Oskhosh. Constructed of polished aluminum and approximately six feet in height, the new spiroids not just attenuated the wingtip vortex but attempted to eliminate them. Flight testing showed that a 30% improvement over the blended winglet was potentially possible with further refinements and use of computational fluid dynamics. So why haven't spiroid winglets caught on? In aircraft design, nothing comes for free as there are always tradeoffs. Winglets in general cause an upward bending moment on the outer wings as they act like wingtip extensions that increase the effective aspect ratio of a wing. As a result, structural reinforcement is sometimes needed to offset the bending. A less capable #winglet might be more desirable as less modification is needed, like going with a blended winglet versus a spiroid. In addition, as pointed out by friend and fellow #avgeek @jonostrower, there were also challenges with icing requirements. Spiroids were just past the price point for the airlines as more structural modification would have been needed. The costs and additional weight would have offset the performance gains. All was not lost- the split scimitar winglet benefitted from the work done on the spiroid as a split scimitar can be considered sort of a spiroid with part of the loop cut out! #aviation #aircraft #planeporn #instaplane #WeirdWings #AviationPartners #instagramaviation #splendid_transport #instaaviation #aviationlovers #flight #AvgeekSchoolofKnowledge #AvGeekNation https://www.instagram.com/sentinelchicken/p/CY203Nts13P/?utm_medium=tumblr
