Winglets

it's a winglet:

it's 2 winglets:

aren't they cute?

Southwest Airlines has made winglets the star of their latest TV ad campaign.

Which, although definitely unconventional, it fits the bill for what Southwest is.... unconventional.

When I saw my first airplane equipped with a winglet several years back, it really set me back.  I had to double-take to make sure I was seeing things correctly.  "is that wing broken?"  now, winglets are becoming more and more of a norm.

until I saw Southwest's commercial over the weekend, I didn't know they had a name.  

Winglet.

defined as "a little wing".  cute.

Apparently, they reduce drag, lower emissions and improve handling.

and, according to the commercial, winglets save Southwest an estimated 54 million gallons of jet fuel each year!  WOW!

For years and years, wings were straight and flat.  The winglets shown above (6 feet tall, amazingly) first appeared in 2002.

Bend the wing.  Save gas.

That's aerodynamics for ya!!

out for now....

MH