Well I've heard a number of people say that one's traded for the other. Or to be more specific, that the reason a 777 doesn't have winglets is due to it having a super critical wing section.
Like they're interchangable... doesn't make an aweful lot of sense to me.
Why not have both, unless structural integrity won't permit it...?
So then, why doesn't the 777 have winglets? What design feature does its wing have that negates their effect to a large extent???
Here's a theory. Perhaps having a super critical wing won't allow winglets for structural reasons as stated above, and the advantages of the SC wing out-weighed those of winglets...
Anyone care to throw a theory my way.
Cheers.