ecomodding commercial airplanes
 

How ?
Replace the in-flight entertainment TVs with iPads !

For this carrier it meant a 7% weight reduction - which is a lot on an airplane.
The things are flight-approved, as chances are the crew already use them to store their route-data, approach charts, as emergency back-up flight instruments and what not.

IPads on a Plane Let Scoot Save Fuel by Shedding TV Tons - Bloomberg

Wow!! 7% weight reduction is huge!

As the comments note, a 777-200 weighs >750,000 lbs, & 7% of that is 52,000 lbs. If the airline flies primarily A-340s, 7% is still 42,700 lbs. The entire aircraft entertainment system only weighs 2 tons, so its removal & replacement with iPads only accounts for a portion of the claimed weight loss.

If they added the winglets to the wing tips, they could lower the drag somewhat. These truncate the vortexes that form there, because of the higher pressure below the wing flowing up and around the wing tip toward the lower pressure air on the upper part of the wing.

Maybe to get the 7% weight savings they removed not only the TV system, but also the seats?
BTW, How much do 400 iPads weigh?

I bet they'll make more money on that than on saving a mere 2 tons of weight:rolleyes:

^THAT is really what is going on. Cash money, and their new way to make it.

...get rid of the passengers and cargo and the plane will fly alot faster and further-per-gallon of jet fuel...but, of course, it won't make any profit either.

The in flight entertainment is more than just those tvs . It is a lot of wiring, power packs, computer systems and routing equipment connectors . I pad is relativly self sufficient.

Can any plane be retrofitted with those winglets?

Some how I don't think the 7% weight reduction is off the total planes weight. Its probably a 7% reduction compared to the existing entertainment system. In the aircraft industry a savings of 100 pounds on an airliner is often worth going after.

Many can be, as far as I know-- BUT:

- They need to have "type approval" or be FAA certified as a modification. This can be a lengthy and expensive process.
- Wings with round tips will make adding winglets difficult.
- Low-speed aircraft may not benefit much from them.
- Supersonic aircraft may have other constraints.
- Military aircraft may have other constraints (e.g., low-observable "stealth" configurations, room for wings to fold for storage on board ship, etc.).

I only really can recall seeing winglets on aircraft with swept wings that also taper. It is possible that other wing forms create difficulties with adding them or with their effectiveness. But on most airliners, I would think they would be a good addition. Assuming they get approved, of course.

-soD

You'll find winglets on anything from low speed, straight-wing gliders to high subsonic swept wing commercial aircraft.
So yeah, just about any subsonic aircraft can use them.
Supersonic winglets and the like are still being researched.

Boeing, Airbus and some aircraft industry suppliers are introducing retrofit kits to keep older planes economically viable.

I noticed Boeing started using winglets in the 90s, like on the redesigned 737s:

http://www.1001crash.com/latest/2006/GOL_B737_1.jpg

(737-800, entered service 1998, according to Wikipedia)

...and the 747-400:

http://www.luftfahrt.net/galerie/pho...a-Airlines.jpg

But the 787 eschews them!

http://media.komonews.com/images/091...t_flight_2.jpg

...and so does the new 747-8:

http://www.airbridgecargo.com/resour...t%20flight.jpg

And all the press renderings of the upcoming 737 redesign show conventional winglets:

http://assets.bizjournals.com/seattl...737MAX.jpg?v=1

Or what look like a funky version of Airbus's winglets:

http://www.999images.com/wallpapers/...ax-852x480.jpg

What gives? Why do designs from one company use them, then stop using them, then possibly use them again?

Boeing is making a big claim on those winglets: 5.5% better FE!

Boeing's New Double-Edged Winglet Saves Gas, Looks Awesome || Jaunted

http://www.jaunted.com/files/14943/newboeingwingers.jpg

The trailing edge on those turbofans looks pretty cool too. Are those VGs for noise reduction? Why yes, yes they are: They under describe them a bit. I found elsewhere that they are, in fact VGs. So all you trailing edge VGers can now claim that your VGs are really, actually, for noise reduction.

From:Aerospace Technology: Technology Readiness Levels Demystified08.20.10

Also they are working on air injection VGs for noise reduction:Fluidic Chevrons for Jet Noise Reduction