News
Blended Winglet Technology has saved 5 billion gallons of jet fuel: API
Aviation Partners, Inc. (API) has announced that its unique Blended Winglet Technology has saved the worlds commercial and business jet operators an estimated five billion gallons of jet fuel.
June 5, 2015 By Aviation Partners Inc.
This represents a global reduction in CO2 emissions of over 107 billion lbs (or almost 54 million tons.) Aviation Partners’ designed Winglets are now flying on more than 6,100 individual jet airplanes, and more than 20 airplane types worldwide.
API’s Blended Winglets are additions to the airplane wing that are significantly more efficient than standard wing tips. The Winglets reduce the drag caused by wingtip vortices, the twin tornados formed by the difference between the pressure on the upper surface of an airplane’s wing and that on the lower surface. By reducing drag Blended Winglets increase fuel efficiency and boost range. The Blended Winglets, which feature a large radius and smooth chord variation in the wing-to-winglet transition area, have demonstrated more than 60% greater effectiveness over conventional winglets with an angular transition.
One of the unique features of API’s technology is that it can be retrofitted to existing in-service aircraft to increase their productivity. API Blended Winglets are certified and in-service on Dassault’s Falcon 2000, 900 & 50 series, the Hawker 800 series and the Gulfstream II aircraft. API’s joint venture with The Boeing Company, Aviation Partners Boeing (APB), has Blended Winglets certified and in-service on the Boeing 737-300, -500, -700, -800 & -900, 757-200 & -300 and 767-300ER/F series aircraft, as well as all 737 NG based Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) aircraft. Aviation Partners’ latest design, Split Scimitar™ Winglets, recently certified for the Boeing 737 NG family are already flying on over 500 aircraft and are now standard equipment on the BBJ. This revolutionary new design builds on the existing Blended Winglets technology to provide further incremental fuel savings. API and APB are studying additional airframe development programs for Blended Winglets and Split Scimitar Winglets, as well as radical new Winglet technologies for the future.
API expects the amount of fuel saved to grow exponentially to more than 10 billion gallons by the end of 2019. “We are proud to be the world leader in the field of fuel savings for commercial airlines and private aviation,” said Joe Clark, founder and CEO of API, and Chairman of APB, “We look forward to adapting our new technology to both existing airplanes and new production designs in the near future”.
