Fly Boy 3 Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 over the years I have seen many models with small vertical winglets at the end of each wing tip. Do these add to flying qualities or just look cool ? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PDB Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Here's one reason for them on wings https://forums.modelflying.co.uk/index.php?/topic/53659-slope-wing-yaw-wobble/&ct=1711558523 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrumpyGnome Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Sometimes called Side Force Generators - supposes to help in things like knife edge. Just about all indoor aerobats have them. No idea if it's just fashion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Chaddock Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 It rather depends on what you want or expect winglets to do. A GG suggests they can be useful to create side area at which they can work well but If you are trying to improved the aerodynamic efficiency of a wing by controlling the tip vortices then they most unlikely to make any practical difference at model sizes and speeds. After all such winglets benefits are only measurable, and then only by a few %, on airliners on long duration accurately controlled flights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Harris - Moderator Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 They've been almost universally adopted on high performance full size gliders at significant cost so there may be measurable benefits on larger models. To my mind, they are an ugly addition to the beautiful clean shapes that competition gliders evolved to in the glass fibre age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john davidson 1 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 They control the vortices from the tips which cause drag Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 On full-size airliners, winglets reduce vortices by a significant amount. So much so, that it can bring down the time between runway movements where lingering turbulence is no longer a safety risk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Channing Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 12 hours ago, Andy Stephenson said: it can bring down the time between runway movements where lingering turbulence is no longer a safety risk. That's not true as ATC do not know which aircraft have Winglets added or not. ATC Separation is either based on time or distance and has not changed. And there is nothing to enter on a flight plan saying winglets added or the type of the winglets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Stephenson Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 Can not does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cooper Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 From a practical viewpoint (with models) they slow down the roll rate a bit, but increase the rudder response. Arguably, they are best employed on 3D aerobatic models. Some look cool, some look ugly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedBaron Posted March 29 Share Posted March 29 In the case of full size gliders the vertical wing tip extensions control the airflow at the wing tip and in doing so improve the performance of the outer sections of the ailerons considerably. Also the overall wing tip drag is reduced, and thus it follows that the overall glide angle is improved. With regard to models one might debate this at length, but perhaps it is permissible to say that the bigger the wing span the bigger the effect will be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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