Copying Birds May Save Aircraft
Fuel
Both Boeing and Airbus have trumped
the efficiency of their newest aircraft, the 787 and A350 respectively. Their
clever designs and lightweight composites certainly make a difference. But a
group of researchers at Stanford University, led by Ilan Kroo, has suggested
that airlines could take a more naturalistic approach to cutting jet-fuel use,
and it would not require them to buy new aircraft.
The
answer, says Dr Kroo, lies with birds. Since 1914, scientists have known that
birds flying in formation-a V-shape-expand less energy. The air flowing over a
bird’s wings curls upwards behind the wingtips, a phenomenon known as upwash.
Other birds flying in the upwash experience redu