Wing Glitz
 

I have often wondered why planes sometimes have decorative panels on the end of wings. Yesterday I asked a flight attendant what they were, and she said they were wing glitz. This was a BD plane and the wing glitz consisted of funny go-faster shaped triangles with red bits painted on them. When I arrived at LHR, I saw that Virgin planes had Union Jacks painted on the ends of their wings, but the king of wing glitz had to be Royal Air Maroc, who had huge vertical extensions stuck on the ends of their wings - but they justs eemed to be white like the rest of the plane.

Has anyone else noticed the new fashion for wing glitz - which airlines have the glitziest wings?

Not 100% sure, but I think you are thinking of winglets ;)

The correct word is winglets, and their function is to reduce drag/increase lift/lower the fuel consumption of the plane.

These are standard on some aircraft types, and has nothing to do with the airline - except on the 737NG, where they come as an option. The triangle-shaped one you saw on the BD-plane, are actually called "wingtip fences", and are standard on the Airbus A318/319/320/321.

Oops, I thought that they're called "wing bling." ;)

Wing glitz - FANTASTIC!!!

not bad but i kinda like wing bling myself ;) <slithering off to the penalty box>

Wing Glitz is so cute!!!

And a new FT legend is born. ;)

This one might even make it into the newsletter. The great "wing glitz vs. wing bling" debate.

You Brits are so adorable.

I've often wondered why planes have those big decorative panels sticking up at the rear of the fuselage to hold a nice, big logo. Advertising?

Seriously: no aircraft that has to fly at 500+ mph, maximizing payload and range while minimizing fuel consumption, will carry anything on the outside that doesn't have a flight-related function. Some of them might be painted in decorative ways, but a purely decorative panel? Ain't gonna happen.

Obviously you've never heard of wing glitz before. ;)

Obviously you didn't check to see which thread you were posting in before. ;)

You know how they say you can tell "certain things" about a man by the size of his hands or feet?

I wonder, can one make certain conclusions about the "status" of the airline or the nation it represents by the size or colour of their aircraft's "wing glitz".

Wing Glitz
 

Soon we'll see winglets pierced and adorned with earrings or even winglet art with scenes of sunsets in Hawaii. Yes, very much like the ladies at the CVS counter or at La Carreta at MIA.

Wow. Over 3 months later and this thread has not yet made it to TalkMail?

It seemed to have so much potential...