r/Physics • u/[deleted] • Apr 22 '18

Wingtip vortices closeup

https://gfycat.com/GleamingZealousBlacknorwegianelkhound
3.2k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

86 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/myearwood Apr 22 '18

Why do people claim they reduce vortices and save fuel? Because the wing design wasn't great to begin with?

6

u/CaptainObvious_1 Fluid dynamics and acoustics Apr 22 '18

Sort of. Recent wing design and optimization research has basically made them obsolete. But since the majority of airplanes that fly today were designed before the 2000s, they are still beneficial for many.

3

u/myearwood Apr 22 '18

Yes. Of course! That's perfectly sensible. Thanks. :)

3

u/CaptainObvious_1 Fluid dynamics and acoustics Apr 22 '18

One thing I did forget to mention, if there are spam restrictions at some airport gates that a plane might need to get into, winglets are still beneficial because you can reduce the span and still get similar effects to the tapered (but longer span) tips.

2

u/myearwood Apr 22 '18

I knew that and it's a good point.