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Wing tip sails which give lower drag at all normal flight speeds

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

J. J. Spillman  and
A. M. McVitie
J. J. Spillman
Affiliation:
Cranfield Institute of Technology, Bedford, England
A. M. McVitie
Affiliation:
Cranfield Institute of Technology, Bedford, England
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Extract

Wing tip sails are small lifting surfaces fitted to the wings in such a way that they use the local air flows about the wing tips, induced by the generation of lift on the wing, to produce a thrust. They act in a manner similar to that of the sail of a yacht when it is sailing close to the wind, hence their name.

Previous work, described in references 1, 2 and 3, has investigated the effects of adding sails to existing wings, extending their span and wetted area. It has long been realised that the correct use of sails is to replace part of the outer wing area with them, in other words to include them in the initial design of the wing. This note describes wind tunnel tests on a simple untapered, unswept wing to examine the benefits from such a design approach and subsequent flight tests on a Cessna Centurion to confirm them.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 88 , Issue 878 , October 1984 , pp. 362 - 369
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1984 

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References

1 Spillman, J. J. The use of wing tip sails to reduce vortex drag. The Aeronautical Journal, September 1978,82,813,387–398.Google Scholar
2 Spillman, J. J., Ratcliffe, H. Y., and McVitie, A. Flight experiments to evaluate the effect of wing tip sails on fuel consumption and handling characteristics. The Aeronautical Journal, July 1979, 83,823,279–281.Google Scholar
3 Fell, M. J. and Spillman, J. J. The effects of wing tip devices on the performance of the BAe Jetstream. Paper 31 A. Proceedings of the AGARD Conference 342, Aerodynamics of Vortical Type Flows in Three Dimensions. 1983.Google Scholar