Split blended winglet
AssigneeAviation Partners, Inc.
InventorLouis B. Gratzer
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A split winglet configured for attachment to a wing tip of a wing. The split winglet may include an upper winglet extending from the wing tip above a chord plane of the wing and a ventral fin projecting below the chord plane. The upper winglet and the ventral fin may include tip configurations. At least one of the upper winglet tip configuration and the ventral fin tip configuration may be provided by a curved blade cap attached thereto. The curved blade cap may include a leading edge having a first curve with a first radius, and a trailing edge having a second curve with a second radius different from the first radius. The curved blade cap may also include a distal segment oblique to the first curve and the second curve.
Claims19
A method of modifying a winglet, comprising:
- removing a wing tip cap from the winglet, the winglet including a winglet leading edge and a winglet trailing edge;
- positioning a curved blade cap over the winglet, the curved blade cap comprising:
- a blade cap leading edge having a first curve with a first radius;
- a blade cap trailing edge having a second curve with a second radius;
- and
- a distal segment oblique to the first curve and the second curve, the first curve terminating at a first end of the distal segment and the second curve terminating at a second end of the distal segment opposite the first end;
- and
- fastening the curved blade cap to the winglet, comprising:
- aligning the blade cap leading edge with the winglet leading edge;
- and
- aligning the blade cap trailing edge with the winglet trailing edge.
A method of modifying, comprising:
- removing a tip cap from at least one of a winglet and a ventral fin,
- the winglet extending from a wing tip above a chord plane of a wing, the winglet comprising an upper surface and a lower surface bounded by a leading edge and a trailing edge swept toward an airstream direction,
- the ventral fin projecting below the chord plane from the winglet, the ventral fin comprising an upper surface and a lower surface bounded by a leading edge and a trailing edge swept toward the airstream direction;
- positioning a curved blade cap over the winglet, the curved blade cap comprising:
- a blade cap leading edge having a first curve with a first radius;
- a blade cap trailing edge having a second curve with a second radius;
- and
- fastening the curved blade cap to at least one of the winglet and the ventral fin, comprising:
- aligning the blade cap leading edge with at least one of the winglet leading edge and the ventral fin leading edge;
- and
- aligning the blade cap trailing edge with at least one of the winglet trailing edge and the ventral fin trailing edge.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.