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C-130 News: Squadron tests MC-130J with wing attachments


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The test aircraft has been fitted with vertical fins on each wing, called winglets. The 413th Flight Test Squadron aircrew and engineers tested the modified aircraft over eight flights. The goal of the tests was to collect data on possible fuel efficiency improvements and performance with the winglets and lift distribution control system installed.

(MC-130J 11-5729 c/n 5729)

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Source: http://www.eglin.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123472544

 


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USAF picks up C-130 winglet trials after Lockheed Martin abandoned them

The US Air Force (USAF) is trialling the use of winglets on its MC-130J Commando II special mission aircraft, three years after Lockheed Martin abandoned the concept for the baseline transport variant.

Engineers from the 413th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida have modified an MC-130J with winglets and performed eight test flights to investigate their effect on fuel efficiency, it was announced on 19 April.

The USAF has not released findings from the experiment.

The USAF trial comes three years after Lockheed Martin abandoned its own efforts to integrate winglets onto the baseline C-130J, saying they had failed to deliver the substantial fuel savings it had hoped for.

Company officials said in 2013 that the technology didn't fit the geometry of the C-130's straight wing. "We have a design, but we have not convinced ourselves through wind tunnel testing that it provides enough economies to warrant the expense of modifying the aircraft," said Jack Crisler, Lockheed Martin's then vice-president for the C-130J program.

Lockheed Martin had earlier anticipated winglets would cut fuel consumption by between 5% and 7%.

The company also examined the use of fuselage-mounted guide vanes and strakes to cut drag and save fuel. Tests of these on both a legacy C-130H and the C-130J had more positive results, according to Lockheed Martin.

Despite abandoning winglets after the unsuccessful trials, Lockheed Martin said at the time it would revisit the concept should the technology advance to become viable for the C-130.

Source: http://www.janes.com/article/59651/usaf-picks-up-c-130-winglet-trials-after-lockheed-martin-abandoned-them

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