777 wing

[froggee25]

hi everybody,

I'm sure this has been covered before but I can't get one straight answer: why does the B-777 not have winglets? I know it's got "raked" wings, but what does it means?
thanks.

[fritzi]

The B777 wing was designed to not have winglets. If you were to mount winglets on existing B777 you would only increase the weight and dimension of a already heavy and very wide wing.

If I recall correctly, only the -300ER and -200LR(will have) have raked wing tips.


PS, this would be better in the questions forum.

Edit: Check this thread (http://www.pprune.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=129378&highlight=777+and+winglet%2A) out for answers

[Captain Stable]

Thanks for the answer and the pointer to the other thread, fritzi.

Moot point as to whether the topic is best in this forum or Questions. I'm minded to leave it here.

[zlin77]

Maybe it's because the 777 was originally designed to have optional folding wingtips, to make it more "Gate Friendly" at certain airports. This may have complicted matters with winglets if they were installed. I believe that no customers to date have taken the " folding tip" option.

[IBTheseus]

I find it interesting that Boeing started from scratch with the B777 wing and choose not to use winglets. No after sales option either...still.

If the folding wings options is true, then that is poor market research as no operator has choosen it. Boeing helped define the 80m * 80m parking box at airports, although not all parking bays are designed for this.

The pictures I see of the B7e7 shows it with winglets. Boeing appears to have changes their mind over winglets. Is the B777 wing a research platform or a mistake without winglets?

[Flight Safety]

If memory serves me, American Airlines requested the folding wing for the 777, so Boeing designed it in as an option, at their request. Then American changed its mind after the design was fixed, so it remains an option on the 777.

[casual observer]

The pictures I see of the B7e7 shows it with winglets. Boeing appears to have changes their mind over winglets

No, Boeing hasn't changed their mind over winglets. While the short-range version of the B7E7 will have winglets, the base and the stretched versions (i.e., the two long-range versions) will have raked wing tips. The wing-span of the short-range version is limited by certain gate restrictions. So my educated guess is for an equivalent wing area, a raked wing tip design would have longer wing span than a regular winglet design. That's probably why the short-range version will feature a regular winglet.