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First Flight with Winglets


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I am sure this has something to do with the USAF's fuel savings initiatives but a lot more to LM's ability to market the Civilian L100-J as "more efficient" and ultimately worth the price the end user will eventually be paying. 

And also, it's another way to tell that there definitely no flight engineers on board.

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18 hours ago, bobdaley said:

Is it real or is it photoshopped, and what are they supposed to do, save a little fuel?

Does not seem worthwhile on an average herk mission profile?

Bob

It's drag reduction which should save a little fuel, but mostly at low speeds. They don't do anything for takeoff performance and probably have some long term effects on wing life. Plus they add weight.

I reiterate my preference for the "microvanes" - they clean up the dirtiest part of the plane, aerodynamically speaking.

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20 hours ago, PerfManJ said:

It's drag reduction which should save a little fuel, but mostly at low speeds. They don't do anything for takeoff performance and probably have some long term effects on wing life. Plus they add weight.

I reiterate my preference for the "microvanes" - they clean up the dirtiest part of the plane, aerodynamically speaking.

Found a 2012 HOC presentation covering Winglets and Microvanes at http://www.lockheedmartin.com/content/dam/lockheed/data/aero/documents/global-sustainment/product-support/2012HOC-Presentations/Wednesday/Wed%201600%20Fuel%20Efficiency%20Initiatives-Kyle%20Smith.pdf

Claims the following for winglets in the presentation:

- Fuel Efficiency Benefits
  -- Estimate 1-3% Fuel Savings

- Increased Efficiency Requires Less Fuel for the Same Payload / Range Performance
  -- 21 Gallons/Hour Reduction for C-130J Long-Range Payload Logistics Mission

- Increase Payload / Range Performance
  -- 4% Increase in Range for C-130J

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 year later...
On 3/30/2016 at 10:00 AM, PerfManJ said:

They finally did it! My bet is that the "microvanes" tested on the aft fuselage a few years ago are more effective at drag reduction and have less structural impact. But winglets have a more powerful visual impact.

Kit Up.... post-production enhancement

C-130 MICROVANES®

Lockheed Martin has conducted extensive studies to reduce C-130 fuel consumption. Microvanes have proven to be the most cost effective improvement, as they are low cost to manufacture and procure, easy to install and provide significant fuel savings of more than 3 percent on average.

The C-130’s at cargo ramp and door give it an exceptional airdrop capability. However, this same feature creates a significant amount of drag due to the abrupt change in air flow from the sides to the ramp/ door.
Drag and fuel usage are directly related. Lockheed Martin teams performed fluid dynamics studies and identified Microvanes as the best solution to minimize drag on the C-130 aircraft .

Microvanes are small devices, approximately a foot long and an inch and a half tall. They are installed in sets of 20 on the body of the C-130, with 10 vanes per side and reduce drag by modifying the air flow and thereby increasing fuel savings.

Flight testing has been conducted to verify Microvanes reduce fuel burn as predicted in operational scenarios and have no adverse impact on airdrop operations from the ramp or paratroop door.

Microvane Kit: Microvanes installed on can be completed in one day with an attachment adhesive and a specialized tool for location. The installation tool can be re-used for subsequent installations. Microvanes can be added and removed without permanent alteration to both legacy and J model aircraft.

 

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On 3/30/2016 at 7:17 PM, loadsmith said:

And also, it's another way to tell that there definitely no flight engineers on board.

When I was a DC-10 engineer at Gemini Air Cargo, they used to call the winglets on our MD-11's flight engineer tombstones.

Don R.

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On 11/8/2017 at 4:59 PM, Robert Podboy said:

Kit Up.... post-production enhancement

C-130 MICROVANES®

Hurry while supplies last! I still think this is the most cost-effective drag reduction option for the Herc, and they can be installed on any variant.

From what I have read, LM wasn't having much luck selling their microvane kit after all the R&D and flight testing. So they licensed the tech to Metro Aerospace and they made their own refinements. The Canadians are installing the Metro kits on their Js.

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