Airbus to offer "Sharklets" on A320 from 2012

[NickN]

God knows why they called them "Sharklets". Does anybody know why?

Dubai 09: A320’s sharklets to deliver 3.5% lower fuel burn from 2012
By Max Kingsley-Jones

A winglet-equipped version of the Airbus A320 will enter service in late 2012, delivering fuel burn improvements of up to 3.5%. Launch customer is Air New Zealand.

Airbus's chief operating officer customers John Leahy says that the airframer had decided to adopt its own "sharklet" design after a series of winglet flight-test evaluations in recent years.

"The sharklet can give you another 150nm [278km] range or 500kg [1,100lb] more payload," he says.

Offered only on new-build aircraft, the sharklet has a $900,000 list price per shipset. Leahy says that a retrofit for in-service aircraft is being examined in conjunction with Aviation Partners (API), which worked with Airbus on the new-build winglet programme.


Airbus tested its own winglet design several years ago before the more recent trials of an API version. Leahy says that the sharklet design is all-new and has already been evaluated using computational fluid dynamics analysis. "It will be scaled from the A350's sharklet.

"We'll do the final computer work in 2010, manufacture in 2011 and flight test in 2012. Service entry on the A320 will be in late 2012."

The upgrade will follow on the A321 and A319 six and 12 months later. An offering on the A318 is still being looked at.

Leahy says that the 2.4m (7.8ft)-high sharklets will be "weight neutral" as the required wingbox strengthening, which adds 200kg, will be offset by the ongoing airframe weight-saving effort.

The 3.5% fuel burn improvement is achieved on flights greater than 2,800km. The winglets also boost take-off and climb performance and provide significant gains in payload/range from hot/high airfields, says Leahy.

Air New Zealand, which recently ordered 14 International Aero Engines V2500-powered A320s, confirms that it has become launch customer for the sharklet.

"The new sharklets will enable our Airbus fleet to benefit from lower fuel burn and carbon emissions, both across Air New Zealand's domestic network and especially on the longer trans-Tasman sectors," says chief executive Rob Fyfe.

http://www.flightglobal.com/articles...burn-from.html

[Ash W]

Nick you only need to look at a picture to see why they are called what they are called! Looks a bit like those destined for the 7late7 though.


http://blog.seattlepi.com/aerospace/archives/185193.asp

[Philip Argy]

They're looking more and more like Boeing's winglets. Soon they'll admit that Boeing got it right with the upswept wing tip compared to the Airbus shark's fin

[Ash W]

Surely you mean McDonald Douglas got it right as the upswept/blended wingtip was their design not Boeings.

Also what was the first commercial jet to have wing tips? Hmmm A310 if I am not mistaken, a similar design then ended up on the A320.

[NickN]

Ash, the proposed winglets on the new A320's look almost identical to Boeing. Hence why I asked why they would call them sharklets. Looks like they basically just copied the Boeing design.

[NickN]

And Ash, from what I know, all aircraft have wing tips

[Philip Argy]

Nick just beat me to it -> the first commercial jet to have wing tips was the first commercial jet!

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by NickN

Ash, the proposed winglets on the new A320's look almost identical to Boeing. Hence why I asked why they would call them sharklets. Looks like they basically just copied the Boeing design.

Still don't follow, what would you call them then? They are clearly called sharklets because they look like a sharks fin and yes does look a bit like the blended wingtip on the 7late7. Also as I mentioned to Phil the blended winglet design was McDonnell Douglas not Boeing so get it right!

PS if you and Phil wanted to pick me up on a technicality over the wingtip reference, when clearly I was talking about winglets/fences what ever you want to call them, I would have thought my use of the name McDonald Douglas would have got you going when clearly it is McDonnell Douglas!

[Bernie P]

Doesn't the 787 (I assume you're making reference to it when you say 7late7?) have raked wing tips, similar to that of the 773ER and 772LR? And the same are being put onto the 747-8...

So, presumably then, I can see a stark (note not SHARK ) similarity to the 737 variant and the recent API 757/767 retrofit!

[Ash W]

It is hard to tell, but to me in the picture linked above and on a picture I saw of the test A320 the A320's seem to go more up and back (shark fin like) which is more 787ish than 737ish.