View allAll Photos Tagged Winglets
© All rights reserved (by me the photographer - Dr. David J. Otway)
taken this morning (26-10-07) on the way from Cork - Dublin enroute eventually to Blackpool (later this afternoon) for my brother in law Cormac's Stag Weekend !
I'm sitting hooked up to free WiFi in Dublin airport!
Heaven help my liver is all I can say - I'm sorely out of practice on the drinking front (and with 20 odd of us going its going to a heavy duty one I suppose).
Paintballing tomorrow I believe and probably a trip around the pleasure beach ?
Sitting in probably seat 6A of the plane looking along the wing - its cropped because the horizon was totally skewed in the original.
Some interesting bits I didn't know from the wikipedia on the Boeing 737:
Engines on the 737 Classic series (300, 400, 500) and Next-Generation series (600, 700, 800, 900) appear not to have circular inlets, as most aircraft do. The accessory gearbox was moved from the 6 o'clock position under the engine to the 4 o'clock position (forward looking aft). This was done because the 737 sits lower to the ground than most airplanes and the original 737s were designed for small P&W engines, but additional ground clearance was needed for the larger CFM56 engines. This side-mounted gearbox gives the engine a somewhat triangular rounded shape. Boeing and CFM International, the engine manufacturer, claim that the shape actually yields slightly improved performance. The necessary nacelle redesign is known in the industry as "hamsterisation", because of the resemblance of the shape to the rodent. Because the engine is so close to the ground, 737-300s and later are more prone to engine foreign-object damage (FOD).
737s are not equipped with fuel dump systems. Depending upon the nature of the emergency, 737s either circle to burn-off fuel or land overweight. Also, the 737 has no full doors covering the main landing gear. The main landing gear (under the wings at mid-cabin) rotate into wells in the plane's belly, the legs being covered by partial doors, and "brush-like" seals aerodynamically smooth (or "fair") the wheels in the wells. The sides of the tires are exposed to the air in flight. "Hub caps" complete the aerodynamic profile of the wheels. It is forbidden to operate without the caps, because they are links to the ground speed sensor that interfaces with the anti-skid brake system. When observing a 737 take off, or at low altitude, the dark circles of the tires can be plainly seen. Boeing states that this design saves weight and reduces complexity.
Blended winglets are available as retrofits and in production on newer 737 aircraft. These winglets stand approximately 8 feet tall and are installed at the wing tips. They help with reduced fuel burn (by reducing vortex drag), reduced engine wear, and less noise on takeoff.