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Old 2nd June 2003 | 19:38
  #12 (permalink)  
ft
 
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 436
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From: N. Europe
It is my understanding that while a longer wing would give more of a benefit than winglets giving the same weight penalty, winglets are used since it is more difficult to retrofit a wing with an extended tip. You'd have to reinforce the wing to handle the added lift at the tip while a winglet mainly reduces the drag load on the wing. I have not meddled with such designs myself, but that is how I’ve had it explained to me.

HD, I’d love a source for that for a more thorough explanation than what I can get on a web forum?

I’d assume that a raked wing tip would gain some of the benefits of a delta wing, with the vortex shedding along the entire leading edge of the raked section and providing lift on top of the airfoil.

Doublechecking my definition of a Hoerner wing tip: A relatively straight (square) wing tip with the outer edge cut off at an angle to the vertical, leaning out from the aircraft?

Cheers,
Fred
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