Page 132 - The Origin of Birds and Flight

Inspired by the way that geese fly, scientists are develop-
ing a system that will enable planes to fly autonomously
for long distances in a V formation. They hope that this
flight pattern will lead to energy savings for planes, as it
does for geese during their long migrations.
Jet planes following in a V formation save energy by following
in the slipstream set up by the leading plane. Keeping the lead plane at the
ideal location manually is a tiring business, and so engineers at NASA’s
Dryden Flight Research Center, UCLA and Boeing facilities are developing
a system to do this automatically. One day, scientists hope, passenger,
freight and military planes will be able to make energy savings of 20% by
imitating geese’s flight pattern.
Brent Cobleigh, chief engineer on the project, says, “A
777 airplane flying 250 days a year, going from New York
to L.A. and back once a day, would save a half a million
to a million dollars in fuel.” Indeed, two NASA jets first
1
showed that this flight pattern could provide major fu-
el economies. Despite flying the same distance, the
second plane used 12% less fuel than the leader.

1. Fenella Saunders, “It’s a Bird, It's a
Plane,” Discover, Vol. 23, No. 5, May 2002.