Active winglet
AssigneeTamarack Aerospace Group, Inc.
InventorNicholas R. Guida
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An active winglet includes a body portion substantially parallel to a wing of an aircraft, as if it were an extension of the wing. The body portion is attachable to an aircraft wing and includes a controllable airflow modification device coupled thereto. By virtue of having a controllable airflow modification device, the winglet is capable of adjusting a control surface of the controllable airflow modification device in response to in-flight conditions, to reduce wing loads, increase range, and/or increase efficiency.
Claims20
An aircraft comprising:
- a fuselage;
- a baseline wing, the baseline wing coupled to the fuselage at a first end of the baseline wing and having an aileron;
- and
- a wing extension comprising:
- a horizontal portion coupled to a second end of the baseline wing, such that the horizontal portion is outboard of the baseline wing;
- and
- a controllable airflow modification device directly coupled to the horizontal portion inboard of a wingtip and controllable independently of the aileron, the controllable airflow modification device configured to respond actively or passively to a flight condition.
A wing extension fixedly attachable to a baseline wing of an aircraft, the wing extension comprising:
- a horizontal portion that is substantially parallel to the baseline wing of the aircraft, the horizontal portion being configured to fixedly attach to an outboard portion of the baseline wing of the aircraft;
- and
- a controllable airflow modification device directly coupled to the horizontal portion of the wing extension inboard of a wingtip and controllable independently of an aileron, the controllable airflow modification device configured to respond actively or passively to a flight condition.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.