

Wingtip of the new Airbus A350 - pdq
http://i.imgur.com/lMOQady.jpg

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Gravityloss
Mind you, the following is just rumor talk:

An aerodynamicist who used to work for the company once told me that when
Airbus (in this millennium) designed a certain plane, they had a wing design
with and without a winglet. They had equal performance. The winglet one was
chosen for marketing reasons.

Same with composites - the more you use, even when it increases weight - the
better it looks in marketing. It is perceived as more modern. I've heard
similar things about some mechanisms V-22 Osprey - that composites were used
where old fashioned metals could have worked for lower weight.

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pedalpete
This makes me wonder if we'll start seeing wings which change in shape
depending on the stage of flight.

It is my understanding that the up-turned wing tips reduce ground-effect lift,
which creates an upward force on the wing as the plane comes in to land.

If the wing tip is not beneficial in flight, maybe we'll start seeing the
extra surface area used for lift during flight, and turned up only during
landing and taxiing.

