Editing Wingtip device (section)

== Early history ==

===Wing end-plates===
[[File:Blohm Voss Ha 137 side view.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Hamburger Flugzeugbau Ha 137|Ha 137]] prototype aircraft, fitted with vertical wing extensions, c.1935–1937]]
The initial concept dates back to 1897, when English engineer [[Frederick W. Lanchester]] patented wing end-plates as a method for controlling wingtip vortices.<ref name="nasa_c2r">{{cite book |chapter-url= https://history.nasa.gov/monograph29.pdf |title= Concept to Reality: Contributions of the Langley Research Center to US Civil Aircraft of the 1990s |chapter= Winglets |page= 35 |author= Joseph R. Chambers |publisher= [[NASA Langley Research Center]] |date= 2003 |isbn= 1493656783}}</ref> In the United States, Scottish-born engineer [[William E. Somerville]] patented the first functional winglets in 1910. Somerville installed the devices on his early biplane and monoplane designs.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ilavhalloffame.org/members_10.htm |title= 2010 Inductees |publisher= Illinois Aviation Hall Of Fame |at= William E. "Billie" Somerville 1869–1950 }}</ref> [[Vincent Burnelli]] received US Patent no: 1,774,474 for his "Airfoil Control Means" on August 26, 1930.<ref>{{cite patent |country= US |number= 1774474  |title= Airfoil control means |pubdate= 26 Aug 1930 |fdate= 27 July 1929 |inventor= Vincent J Burnelli }}</ref>

Simple flat end-plates did not cause a reduction in drag, because the increase in profile drag was greater than the decrease in induced drag.<ref name="McLean Boeing">{{cite journal |last1=McLean |first1=Doug |title=Wingtip Devices: What They Do and How They Do It |journal=2005 Performance and Flight Operations Engineering Conference |date=2005 |page=Article 4 |url=https://mentourpilot.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Wingtip_Devices-Doug-McLean-Boeing-flight-safety-conference-2005.pdf |access-date=18 March 2025 |publisher=Boeing}}</ref>

===Hoerner wing tips===
[[File:Heinkel He 162 CASM 2012 5 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Heinkel He 162A]] with ''Lippisch-Ohren'' wingtip devices]]

Following the end of World War II, Dr. [[Sighard F. Hoerner]] was a pioneer researcher in the field, having written a technical paper published in 1952<ref name="Aerodynamic Shape of the Wing Tips">{{cite journal|url= http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a800374.pdf |title= Aerodynamic Shape of the Wing Tips |at= Technical Report No. 5752 |author= Hoerner, Dr. Sighard |journal= USAF Technical Reports |date= 1952 |publisher= Engineering Division, Air Materiel Command; Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio; United States Air Force archive |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130316153354/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a800374.pdf |url-status= live |archive-date= 2013-03-16 }}</ref> that called for drooped wingtips whose pointed rear tips focused the resulting wingtip vortex away from the upper wing surface. Drooped wingtips are often called "Hoerner tips" in his honor. Gliders and light aircraft have made use of Hoerner tips for many years.<ref name="History of Met-Co-Aire">{{cite web|last=Sakrison|first=David|date=2004|title=A German aerodynamicist, a California character, and a corkscrew|url=http://www.metcoaire.com/technical/tech_mcastory.shtml|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322110205/http://www.metcoaire.com/technical/tech_mcastory.shtml|archive-date=March 22, 2016|publisher=Met-Co-Aire}}</ref><ref name="Aerodynamic Shape of the Wing Tips"/>

The earliest-known implementation of a Hoerner-style downward-angled "wingtip device" on a jet aircraft was during World War II.  This was the so-called "Lippisch-Ohren" (Lippisch-ears), allegedly attributed to the [[Messerschmitt Me 163]]'s designer [[Alexander Lippisch]], and first added to the M3 and M4 third and fourth prototypes of the [[Heinkel He 162]]A ''Spatz'' jet [[light fighter]] for evaluation.  This addition was done in order to counteract the [[dutch roll]] characteristic present in the original He 162 design, related to its wings having a marked [[Dihedral (aeronautics)|dihedral angle]].  This became a standard feature of the approximately 320 completed He 162A jet fighters built, with hundreds more He 162A airframes going unfinished by [[V-E Day]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Creek|first1=J. Richard|url=http://www.scribd.com/doc/111359285/Aircraft-Profile-No-203-The-Heinkel-He-162|title=The Heinkel He 162 (Aircraft in Profile number 203)|last2=Conway|first2=William|date=1972|publisher=Profile Publications Ltd|location=Leatherhead, Surrey UK|pages=5|access-date=June 18, 2014|orig-year=1967|archive-date=August 19, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130819080135/http://www.scribd.com/doc/111359285/Aircraft-Profile-No-203-The-Heinkel-He-162|url-status=dead}}</ref>