Blended falx winglet
Blended falx winglets are provided which include an initial winglet section adapted to being attached to an aircraft wingtip, and forward and aft sub-winglets extending outwardly and upwardly from the initial winglet section. The forward and aft sub-winglets may have respective curved transition sections with different radii of curvature, e.g., the radius of curvature of the curved transition section of the forward sub-winglet may be greater than the radius of curvature of the curved transition section of the aft sub-winglet.
1. A blended falx winglet comprising:
an initial winglet section having leading and trailing edges and adapted to being attached to an aircraft wingtip;
a forward sub-winglet positioned adjacent to the leading edge of the initial winglet section, and
an aft sub-winglet positioned adjacent the trailing edge of the initial winglet section aft of the forward sub-winglet, wherein
each of the aft and forward sub-winglets extend outwardly and upwardly from the initial winglet section, and include respective curved transition sections with different radii of curvatures r 1 and r 2 having center points P 1 and P 2 , respectively, and wherein
the radius of curvature r 2 of the curved transition section of the forward sub-winglet is greater than the radius of curvature r 1 of the curved transition section of the aft sub-winglet, and wherein
the center points P 1 and P 2 of the radii of curvatures r 1 and r 2 , respectively, are located in the same longitudinal plane.
2. The blended falx winglet according to claim 1 , wherein the radius of curvature r 2 of the curved transition section of the forward sub-winglet is at least about 1.5 times greater than the radius of curvature r 1 of the curved transition section of the aft sub-winglet.
3. The blended falx winglet according to claim 1 , wherein each of the forward and aft sub-winglets includes a terminal end section extending from the curved transition section.
4. The blended falx winglet according to claim 3 , wherein the terminal end section is planar or curved.
5. The blended falx winglet according to claim 3 , wherein the terminal end section of the aft sub-winglet is positioned inboard relative to the terminal end section of the forward sub-winglet.
6. An aircraft which comprises the blended falx winglet according to claim 5 .
7. An aircraft which comprises the blended falx winglet according to claim 1 .
8. An aircraft comprising a fuselage and port and starboard wings, wherein each of the port and starboard wings include the blended falx winglet according to claim 1 .