Aviation Partners ‘Intensely Interested’ in Spiroids

By Matt Thurber

August 21, 2008
Business Aviation, Maintenance and Modifications

Years after testing an unusually shaped “spiroid” winglet on a Gulfstream II, Aviation Partners remains “intensely interested” in continuing research into the efficiency-boosting winglets, according to a company spokesman. Spiroid winglets look like a long thin winglet ribbon that was heated to the malleable stage then twisted back onto the top of the wing.

The GII spiroids showed a promising 10-percent reduction in fuel consumption, which is more than the typical 7-percent reduction seen with the company’s regular winglets. Despite recently receiving $2.058 million worth of government funding via an earmark for spiroid research within wake turbulence funding as part of recent congressional legislation, Aviation Partners has no plans to resume testing the spiroid winglets until after it finishes Falcon 50 and 900 and Boeing 767-300 winglet programs currently under way.

Once spiroid testing resumes, Aviation Partners CEO Joe Clark’s Falcon 50 will be used for flight trials.

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