Winglets just got even cooler

Just when you thought that putting the fuel-saving winglets on aircraft couldn't get any better, the aeronautical experts at Aviation Partners have brought out a new device.

The winglets we are seeing on more and more aircraft around the world (Boeing 737 Next Generation, 757 and 767 aircraft and the Airbus version called sharklets on their A320's coming soon) are saving a lot of carbon emissions. In fact, since they were developed, they have been fitted on more than 4,000 aircraft and have saved nearly 30 million tonnes of carbon from being released. Pretty good going.

But delegates at the EBACE business aviation show here in Geneva this past week were treated to a preview of the next generation of winglet. Aviation Partners are calling them scimitar winglets and they are basically a little winglet on the end of the main winglet (which is on the end of the wing - it's a bit like Russian dolls!). Importantly, aside from looking great, these little extensions have the possibility of increasing aerodynamics even further and saving more fuel. 

And this is what they look like:

At the moment, they will just be flying on a number of business aviation planes, but I hear that there are plans to bring them to commerical aircraft too at some stage in the next few years.

Fonte: Enviro.aero