The ever-evolving winglet

I remember "winglets" showing on commercial airplanes when the 747-400 appeared in the late 80s and the wingtip fence with the advent of the first Airbus 319. They've multiplied ever since and the biggest retro-fit happened with the good old 737 that got huge ones in relation to its overall size.

Yesterday, as we were flying in a brand new Boeing 737 MAX, I noticed a new type of wingtip
device that was a hybrid between a blended winglet, a wingtip fence, and a raked wingtip. Then, I thought about the condor (the bird that is) and its rather sophisticated wing tips that it uses to fine tune its soaring pattern.

When will all that winglet design stabilize and its evolution slow-down? Seems to me that engineers have not been paying good attention to that aerodynamic detail in their wing design, ever since the devices have surfaced in the mid 70s.

This also reminds us that – when compared to birds – aircraft design still has a long way to go...