Spinoff story
Winglets Save Billions of Dollars in Fuel Costs
A real-world story of NASA technology finding a life beyond the mission.
About this technology
Overview
The upturned ends now featured on many airplane wings are saving airlines billions of dollars in fuel costs. Called winglets, the drag-reducing technology was advanced through the research of Langley Research Center engineer Richard Whitcomb and through flight tests conducted at Dryden Flight Research Center. Seattle-based Aviation Partners Boeing-a partnership between Aviation Partners Inc., of Seattle, and The Boeing Company, of Chicago-manufactures Blended Winglets, a unique design featured on Boeing aircraft around the world. These winglets have saved more than 2 billion gallons of jet fuel to date, representing a cost-savings of more than $4 billion and a reduction of almost 21.5 million tons in carbon dioxide emissions.