Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Turning the wingtip upward weakens the swirling vortex and can trim fuel burn by several percent. The figure is taken from NASA Glenn Research Center, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a technology fact?

Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

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The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Winglets cut the drag made by wingtip vortices

Turning the wingtip upward weakens the swirling vortex and can trim fuel burn by several percent High pressure air under a wing escapes around the tip into the low pressure above, curling into a vortex that costs induced drag. Richard Whitcomb at NASA Langley tested vertical winglets in the 1970s and found they recovered a useful share of that loss. Airliners took them up from the 1980s, and later blended and split scimitar shapes refined the idea. It sits in Mondo's technology collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

NASA Glenn Research Center

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Tags: aerodynamics, aviation, drag

Winglets cut the drag made by wingtip vortices: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Turning the wingtip upward weakens the swirling vortex and can trim fuel burn by several percent. The figure is taken from NASA Glenn Research Center, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a technology fact?: Yes. It sits on the Technology shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.