Editing Wingtip device (section)

===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>