A Close up look at the new Scimitar Winglet – Photo: United Airlines

On Tuesday the 16th July 2013, a new type of winglet took to the skies for the first time.  Forget about the blended winglet or even the sharklet, the new kid in town is the Scimitar Winglet.  This new winglet is similar to the Advance Technology Winglet that is destined for Boeing’s new 737 Max aircraft, but is built for the 737NG instead.

The first flight was operated by a United 737-800 (aircraft N37277) and was conducted at Paine Field (KPAE) in Everett. Many of the test flights out of KPAE are operated by Boeing at the north-end of the airport, but this flight was completed at the south-end via Aviation Partners Boeing where the aircraft was retrofitted with the new Scimitar Winglet.