Do we have any plane geeks here? Question on "blended winglets" and who uses them

JoeWesthead · 10-26-2007, 05:18 PM

God I feel so dirty writing this thread.

I'm doing a report on bmibaby and read this quote about low-cost airlines:

Quote:

As operators of some of the world's youngest fleets, these carriers have bought into technological developments such as the introduction of curved wing-tips on Boeing 737s. Known as Blended Winglets, these help lower fuel costs by reducing the aircraft's fuel consumption and emissions

Had a cursory look on Wikipedia, but there's all sorts of variations of the 737 blah blah blah.

Essentially I want to know if bmibaby uses planes with these Blended Winglets, and who else out of the LCAs use them. Also, is this technology really as new as this quote makes out?

Also it'll give me an opportunity to work out who to avoid should I ever attend a meetup.

Free notebook & pen and flask of weak orange cordial for the most helpful person

Moreclaw · 10-26-2007, 05:23 PM

The Ryanair plane I went on had them.

gaza01 · 10-26-2007, 05:23 PM

As far as I'm aware winglets have been on planes for decades.

gaza01 · 10-26-2007, 05:26 PM

As to whether BMI have planes with them depends on the age of the fleet and whether they've been retrofitted.

BMI fly 737 - 300's & 737 - 500's according to Wiki

JoeWesthead · 10-26-2007, 05:42 PM

I specifically mean bmibaby and not BMI

Like I say I had a look on Wiki but it's pretty confusing stuff

gaza01 · 10-26-2007, 05:50 PM

Yeah I meant bmibaby, just being lazy.

I don't believe bmibaby planes have winglets, as the fleet they use don't have winglets as standard but they are available as a retrofit upgrade.

Doog · 10-26-2007, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by JoeWesthead:
God I feel so dirty writing this thread.

I'm doing a report on bmibaby and read this quote about low-cost airlines:

<BLOCKQUOTE>As operators of some of the world's youngest fleets, these carriers have bought into technological developments such as the introduction of curved wing-tips on Boeing 737s. Known as Blended Winglets, these help lower fuel costs by reducing the aircraft's fuel consumption and emissions

Had a cursory look on Wikipedia, but there's all sorts of variations of the 737 blah blah blah.

Essentially I want to know if bmibaby uses planes with these Blended Winglets, and who else out of the LCAs use them. Also, is this technology really as new as this quote makes out?

Also it'll give me an opportunity to work out who to avoid should I ever attend a meetup.

Free notebook & pen and flask of weak orange cordial for the most helpful person

</BLOCKQUOTE>
bmibaby don't as far as I'm aware, their fleet mainly consists of 737-3/4/500 whereas boeing to my knowledge have only retrofitted the winglets to the new generation 7/8/900 series. as moreclaw said, ryanair definitely have some planes with the winglets; thomsonfly might as well but I'd have to check, although I'm fairly sure some of their tui partners do. boeing have also retrofitted some 757s with winglets (continental being one carrier who has them), and are also doing the same for the 767 at some point in the near future

gaza01 - he's talking about blended winglets, not the kind that you get on the airbus a330/a340

JoeWesthead · 10-26-2007, 08:02 PM

Cheers fellas :thup:

For the record my dad has confessed to having been a plane spotter in his youth, hanging out at Manchester Airport on a Saturday afternoon.

And yet here I am today so he must have been laid at some point (I kid, I kid - salt of the earth really..)