Hey guys,

 

love the NGX but I've been wondering why there's no 736NG winglets model?

Haven't seen a single 736 wl model in real life, why does this happen?

 

Thanks,

 

Peter

It is because the 600 was never certified for winglets, and most likely never will be either. It was going to be, but to do so is not a simple process. Despite being one of the NG family, the 600 is a lot different from other NGs, it has lower-rated engines and the wings are very different in construction. The wings have a different shape at the fairing where they join to the body, which had to be done because of the shorter fuselage making it a more complex process to fair them in.

 

At the outboard of the wings, when it was being developed, Boeing found that the 600 was prone to flutter, which meant that the outer panels of the 600's wings had to be built from different materials to that used in other NGs, specifically it was a slightly different gauge of metal, and (I think) a different grade of alloy too (not certain about that though, but the metal is definitely thicker). This cured the flutter problem, but the 600 is still noted for not being as stable in flight as its longer NG sisters, which is in fact one of the reasons why it was less popular with airlines, although not the main reason why its sales are not great; it is simply not much that more economical to operate than other NG variants, in spite of its smaller size.

 

To certify the 600 for winglets therefore required much work; you have to strengthen the wing spars and wingtips, flight test it over many hours, and rewrite the FMC software to take different flight performance into account, where the 600 is already unique in that respect with its different engine thrust rating, and in considering that, Boeing also had to consider whether it was worth the expense.

 

To cover that eventuality, it was originally part of the plan that WestJet, who were to be the launch customer for the 600 variant, would cover some of the costs of the testing process to get winglets certified on the 600, but they later withdrew their order, which left it not being financially viable for Boeing to pursue the certification process. In the end, SAS were the launch customer for the 600 variant, but their purchases and those of others who bought the 600 have only amounted to 69 of the 600 variant being built and sold, which is a small number compared to other NG variants (less than two percent of total NG sales), since there are well over four thousand NG 737s in service, with orders for thousands more on Boeing's books.

 

Al

Westjunk (oops sorry...I mean our dear leader Saretsky's great teal WestJet ) was to be the launch customer of the -600 equipped with winglets equipped from some STC outfit. Can't remember the name.

 

I never knew all that stuff about the flutter on the -600 Al. Interesting. A side effect of putting that extra 5000-7000 lbs of thrust with that big wing and little fuse I suppose. You gotta a source on that? I'm interesting in that reading. Neat info.

 

Also interesting though is there's lot's of -500's out there with winglets. The wing's a lot different though.

Yup, several 737 books, the Crowood one, the Airliner World one and Chris Brady's Technical Guide, but if you want a source you can check directly, then here you go, scroll down to where there is a pic of an SAS 600 and read the text above that pic:

 

http://www.b737.org....7ng.htm#737-600

 

Al

Thank you for the information on the 736NG guys!

Great information, and thank you for it. I'd still like to see a "fictional" exterior -600 with winglets though.

Well, here's one....... :)

It must be some kind of editing, right?

 

It's gotta be...that winglet looks way too small!

It never existed, which is exactly why PMDG decided not to model it.

Also, of all the pictures of that specific reg, there's not a single one with winglets on... Well, except this Photoshopped version, that is.

The Manager of flight operations of Westjet said that they will do the winglet modification to the 737-600 once the certification is done. Apparently, from the pic above of the -600 C-GWCQ, the certification is now fully available. Also according to the Westjet Manager, those winglets are provided by Boeing itself.

 

The WestJet Manager declaration was from the Just Planes - World Air Routes WestJet 737-700 video, right around the 1:57:00 mark.

That photo's a fake - if you look on the big photo sites there are no photos of any WJ 600 with winglets - there are photos of C-GWCQ taken just a few weeks ago that do not have them too. They'd be all over the sites if winglets had really been installed on it. WJ was looking at doing it back when that DVD was made but they decided against it because the cost outweighed the actual benefits.

Well, here's one....... :)

It must be some kind of editing, right?

 

Either that or WJ bought a DIY winglet kit on Ebay :LMAO:

This post makes me so grateful that we have the NGX version of this bird. For some reason, it remains my favorite of the lineup. That might change whenever the -900ER makes it to my hangar.

In my opinion, the 600 is intended more for shorter flights like CYVR-CYLW and would poor ably not benefit from winglets on such short hops.

True that on a short flight the cost of sticking the winglets on there would not be offset by the savings on fuel burn, but it would also mean a shorter take off roll too, which could potentially allow the aircraft to use smaller airports with cheaper landing fees, so the addition of winglets is not always solely about fuel burn savings.

 

Even so, it is very unlikely that the 600 will actually see winglets being added, there just aren't enough of them about to make it viable to do the certification. With the 200, 300, 400 and 500, it was worth even private companies going to the effort of doing so, since they exist in greater numbers.

 

Al