Airbus has begun testing the second set of large wingtip devices for the A320 family at its Toulouse headquarters.
The manufacturer is evaluating two designs, one developed in-house, the second created by Wichita, Kansas-based Winglet Technology. Testing of the in-house designed winglets started in April, initially on Airbus's A320 testbed aircraft (F-WWBA) but also later on a new production aircraft destined for JetBlue Airways. F-WWBA was the first A320 to be built and therefore does not represent the current built standard.
Airbus has now fitted F-WWBA with the curved Winglet Technologies devices, and test flights began today (pictured below).
It is later expected to modify the JetBlue aircraft for back-to-back tests.
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Source: Flight International
