Missing Winglet on an Airbus?

[atprider]

I flew last night on an Airbus type on a UK domestic flight. The aircraft had one winglet; the other wing had the winglet removed with what appeared to be gaffer tape covering where the winglet should have been attached.

Can an aircraft be dispatched with this defect for unlimited flying ? And does it have any performance impact on the aircraft operation?

[TopBunk]

Trawling through my old (10yrs) copy of the CDL/MEL manual, for an A321 the following penalties apply for a single missing wingtip fence:

T/O and approach limiting weights reduced by 8910kgs
One engine inop ceiling reduced by 735ft
Fuel consumption penalty +1.34%

HTH

[DaveReidUK]

I flew last night on an Airbus type on a UK domestic flight. The aircraft had one winglet; the other wing had the winglet removed with what appeared to be gaffer tape covering where the winglet should have been attached.

Are you sure it was missing at the start of the pushback ? :O

Can an aircraft be dispatched with this defect for unlimited flying ? And does it have any performance impact on the aircraft operation?

I would expect a small performance (fuel burn) penalty, probably not significant on a UK domestic route.

But when Aer Lingus had an A333 wingtip knocked off at SFO just over a year ago (by a tug driver), they positioned the aircraft back to DUB empty.

[atprider]

Yep missing as I boarded and still not there on landing :)

[FlightDetent]

Wing tip fence: one may be missing, TopBunk's data is pretty accurate for the A320 as well.
Sharklet: no go.

[atprider]

Thanks for the informative replies folks

[dogsridewith]

A two-manned fossil fueled Rutan aircraft ground off one of those upturned wing ends during the takeoff roll of its flight once around the planet...all without stopping or refueling along the way.

[gearlever]

A two-manned fossil fueled Rutan aircraft ground off one of those upturned wing ends during the takeoff roll of its flight once around the planet...all without stopping or refueling along the way.

With MACH 0.8 ?:O

[tdracer]

Not uncommon - the 747-400 CDL allows dispatch without one (or both) winglets. Again, small performance penalty.
I don't know about the 737 winglets (didn't spend much time working the 737), and the 757 and 767 winglets are aftermarket STC so I don't know about those either.

[safelife]

A330 and A340 also allow dispatch with one missing.
A320 sharklets however are a no-go.

[Fursty Ferret]

Not a professional pilot but curious....anyone know why a missing sharklet is a no dispatch item?

Because aerodynamically it's roughly the same as lopping six feet off the end of the wing.

[TURIN]

I flew last night on an Airbus type on a UK domestic flight. The aircraft had one winglet; the other wing had the winglet removed with what appeared to be gaffer tape covering where the winglet should have been attached.

High Speed Tape or HST. Approved by all Aircraft manufacturers for temporary repairs of this kind. Not 'gaffer' tape, whatever that is.

[ACMS]

Not uncommon - the 747-400 CDL allows dispatch without one (or both) winglets. Again, small performance penalty.
I don't know about the 737 winglets (didn't spend much time working the 737), and the 757 and 767 winglets are aftermarket STC so I don't know about those either.


It’s been a while while but I’m fairly sure that the CDL only allows 1 Winglet removed on the 744.

[tdracer]

It’s been a while while but I’m fairly sure that the CDL only allows 1 Winglet removed on the 744.

It may not be in the CDL (been a while for me as well) but I know there is a way to dispatch with them both missing on a 747-400. It might be a service bulletin rather than CDL.

[DaveReidUK]

I know there is a way to dispatch with them both missing on a 747-400. It might be a service bulletin rather than CDL.

I'd be surprised if there wasn't - ANA managed it for years:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/697x252/b74d_e186151e16e9684a847879453a29b86382d0fb0a.jpg

Yes, I do know they were built like that. :O

[FlightDetent]

Not a professional pilot but curious....anyone know why a missing sharklet is a no dispatch item? Wild guess: The asymmetric effect on lateral control have not been researched. Given the fact they really are tall fins, most of the present flight stability data would no longer be representative of the behaviour.

[atprider]

High Speed Tape or HST. Approved by all Aircraft manufacturers for temporary repairs of this kind. Not 'gaffer' tape, whatever that is.

Whoops sorry.... Laymans error! Maybe i should have said Duck ...
(ducks)

[pattern_is_full]

C'mon, folks!

Duct tape - because it was first used for sealing HVAC duct seams. I've never had to seal a duck.....however, one brand uses Duck as a registered brand name/logo (cute, hunh?).

Gaffer tape - very similar, used by gaffers (lighting technicians) to make repairs, reinforcements or temporary hold-downs on movie or stage sets

HST or Speed Tape - also similar, but with a stronger adhesive that won't (ideally) flap loose under the stress of the slipstream, and is more resistant to solvents like hydrocarbon fuels or oils.

[Ant T]

My Dad was enroute from Brize Norton to the Falklands in 2013, and as the A330 taxied in at Ascension, it somehow ended up with a winglet jammed underneath the wing of another aircraft.
After some delay and discussion, I think the solution they came to was to keep the passengers onboard (presumably to keep the landing gear as loaded as possible), and refuel the wings asymetrically to lower the jammed tip to where they could move it clear. Then they removed the damaged winglet, and carried on South. The whole operation at Asi caused a delay of about 8 or 9 hours.

[atprider]

C'mon, folks!

Duct tape - because it was first used for sealing HVAC duct seams. I've never had to seal a duck.....however, one brand uses Duck as a registered brand name/logo (cute, hunh?).

Gaffer tape - very similar, used by gaffers (lighting technicians) to make repairs, reinforcements or temporary hold-downs on movie or stage sets

HST or Speed Tape - also similar, but with a stronger adhesive that won't (ideally) flap loose under the stress of the slipstream, and is more resistant to solvents like hydrocarbon fuels or oils.
Oh dear. Obvs we dont do irony..... 😜

[Station Zero]

Sharkets are probably no go for a number of reasons. Two I can think of, the sharket is attached internally of the wing, need to get into the fuel tanks to remove so no simple task compared to a wing fence on earlier A320s. The other reason is no way to turn of the Load Alleviation Function that is required for aircraft fitted with sharkets so would remain operational even if you removed the sharket mass from the wingtip.

[tdracer]

I'd be surprised if there wasn't - ANA managed it for years:


https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/697x252/b74d_e186151e16e9684a847879453a29b86382d0fb0a.jpg

Yes, I do know they were built like that. :O

DR, the story at the time was that ANA was going to use them as 'SR' aircraft - flying short haul around Japan - until they got to a certain number of cycles. When they got to the right number of cycles, they'd convert them to long haul (and install the winglets). I thought it was a clever way to maximize the utility of the airframe - maxing out on hours and cycles.
No idea if that actually came to pass or not.

[DaveReidUK]

DR, the story at the time was that ANA was going to use them as 'SR' aircraft - flying short haul around Japan - until they got to a certain number of cycles. When they got to the right number of cycles, they'd convert them to long haul (and install the winglets). I thought it was a clever way to maximize the utility of the airframe - maxing out on hours and cycles.
No idea if that actually came to pass or not.

Yes, some (not sure how many) of the ANA aircraft had their winglets added in later life:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/336x240/ja8955_without_winglets_cropped__44a4b7544eaea60c9103cfdd1c8 c17f8c7ffa75e.jpg

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/347x251/ja8955_with_winglets_cropped__84e8e8f2c2bd044a2c3b8f10857fba e6bff1bc57.jpg

https://www.airliners.net/photo/All-Nippon-Airways-ANA/Boeing-747-481D/1308615/L

https://www.airliners.net/photo/All-Nippon-Airways-ANA/Boeing-747-481D/2645379/L

Conversely, a couple of ANA's 747s started life with winglets which were subsequently removed.