By Greentech Lead Team : Aviation Partners, Inc. (API)
announced that commercial and business aircraft operators saved an estimated
three billion gallons of jet fuel by using its patented Blended Winglet Technology.
This represents a global reduction in CO2 emissions of more than 32.2 million
tons.
API’s Blended Winglets are an addition to the airplane
wing tip that efficiently adds effective wingspan. The Winglets will
increase fuel efficiency and boost range by reducing the
drag caused by wingtip vortices and 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.
The Blended Winglets feature a large radius and smooth
chord variation in the wing-to-winglet transition area. The technology has
demonstrated more than 60 percent greater effectiveness over conventional
winglets with an angular transition.
API’s Blended Winglets can
be installed during production or retrofitted to existing (i.e. in-service)
aircraft.
Aviation Partners’ Winglets are now flying on more than
5,000 individual airplanes, and more than 20 airplane types worldwide,
including Boeing, Falcon, Hawker and Gulfstream airframes.
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.
API is looking at radical new Winglet technologies for
the future and expects the amount of fuel saved to grow exponentially to more
than seven billion gallons in the next 4-5 years.
“We are proud to be the world leader in the field of
fuel savings for the airlines and private aviation. We look forward to adapting
our new technology to both existing airplanes and new production designs in the
near future,” said Joe Clark, CEO of API and chairman of APB.
API recently announced that
Transport Canada granted Canadian Supplemental Type Certificate (STC) approval
for its High Mach Blended Winglets on the Falcon 900 Series.