For example the range of a B747-400 is 7260 nm, How much would it be decreased without the winglets?
2007-03-16 16:13:24 · 4 answers · asked by MD-11 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
4-6% is about right, but they are alot more than $300,000. Winglets for a lear are about $600,000.
It would pay for itself in a short time though.
Lets say a 747 is cruising at 50% power, we can calculate its fuel consumption by multiplying the percentage of power by the maximum thrust, and then by the specific fuel consumption, to find the fuel being used per hour.
The 747-400 has 224,000lbs of thrust at full power. at 50% it obviously has 112,000lbs of thrust. multiply that by a specific fuel ratio of .32, and you get 35,840lbs of fuel an hour.
If you divide that by 6.8lbs, you get it uses 5270gph.
If the winglets save 6% of fuel, then thats 316 gallons saved every hour, or about $1500. A 747 can last over 100,000 hours (at least 4 are flying with over 100,000 hours) so the savings make it well worth it. Even at 3%, the savings would pay for the plane by the time it got to 50,000 hours.
2007-03-16 17:24:08 · answer #1 · answered by Doggzilla 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Anywhere from 4 to 6%. They cost $300,000 to install and generally pay for themselves in less than 3 years.
Plus they look very cool!!
2007-03-16 23:21:55 · answer #2 · answered by Mere Mortal 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think it help save fuel, I work for a airline and the put wint tips on the 737 & 757, i was reading that it help save fuel
2007-03-17 00:21:52 · answer #3 · answered by fnkycash 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
I'm guessing 8% decreased distance.
2007-03-24 15:21:45 · answer #4 · answered by qwicherbitchen 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋