Posted on 01/04/2020 12:35:32 AM PST by Olog-hai
Planes could soon by flying in V-shape formations like migrating birds in a bid to save fuel and emissions.
Airbus says flight technology is now mature enough to use the formation which would allow aircraft to effectively ride on the coattails of each other.
The tactic is often seen in cycling, where racers “draft” behind leaders of the racing peloton, following in their slipstream.
Within six months, two A350 planes will make a long-haul formation flight to prove the so-called “wake energy retrieval” can be accomplished, according to The Times.
Then early in 2021, an airline will pair two jets, with the second flying nearly two miles from the first, on a transatlantic passenger route.
Within five years, airlines will be encouraged to use the formation in a bid to save up to 10 percent of fuel, lowering costs, as well as lowering carbon emissions. …
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
More Millennial engineering ideas that make carpenters curse the thinner nail and busted fingers.
Who doesn’t love a good concept.
It’s about safety.....FIRST.
Yep. There are at least a couple of very, very good reasons civilian aircraft don’t fly formations.
1) It’s dangerous. There is absolutely no reason to be that close to another aircraft increasing the odds accidental collision.
2) You start risking destabilizing the following aircraft due to wake turbulence. Sure, if you are talking about two large passenger aircraft the one in the back “probably” won’t get flipped over or anything but... things happen. You don’t go looking for ways to mess up the wing’s function and a stable flight envelope in the name of saving a few gallons of gas.
We take commercial air travel for granted on a massive scale. It’s as safe as it is exactly BECAUSE every little thing the aviation industry does for safety all add up to one very safe overall experience.
Start taking away a few here and a few there and soon the accident rate will go up.
That policy will change right after the fist mid flight collision, which may not take long. Airline pilots aren’t necessarily the best ones, and tend to rely too much on automation.
Planes fly 1 mile horizontal and 1000 feet vertical for a reason and it is the law. Two or three jets flying a formation would have to be closely computer controlled. Passenger jets would not be safe. Freight jets would be a different story. When jumbo jets started flying some small planes were knocked out of the sky by turbulence. Think what turbulence a formation of these guys would cause.
I thought this was satire! If it isn’t, we’re dealing with mentally disturbed people here.
What difference does it make? We’ve only got 11 years left. Geez.
Not to mention the cluster-”blank” when both planes land at their destination.
Although airplanes flying in V-shape formations does make for close grouping of bombs on the ground, especially if no one is shooting at them as they are dropping the bombs.
I think the millennials have ‘bombed’ on this idea.
“As a general rule, narrow-bodied airliners like the Boeing 737 or A320 have to leave a one-minute gap between each other or a two minute gap if following a wide-bodied airliner,” Brady said.
Is a two minute gap between flights able to provide any lift benefit at all? Especially at a mile every 6 seconds?
Will it be safe to operate at 12 second intervals?
Note that the FAA classifies the A380 in a new turbulence category "Super" along with the AN-225.
Also how many planes are going the same direction at the same time? Atlanta is one of the busiest airports. So you’ve got one taking off for New York, then a few minutes later Chicago, a few minutes later, LAX, and then say Miami.
“We just flew through his jetwash!”
Beep beep beep
All that fuel spent, flying in circles...
Really. Then how has the air armed forces gotten away with it since the byplane? Hmmmmm?
We never used time differences. We used distance separation. At the time, for a smaller aircraft, like a KC-135, it was 6 miles behind a jumbo, for the FAA, but for the USAF, it was 10 miles. It did not apply for a C-141 behind a C-5. In that case, we ran them close. 😁
Coordinating the departure time of several, full planes... what could go wrong?
As if flight delays for passengers aren’t already bad enough!!
This will save energy, 99% of the time, and perhaps a little more. What could go wrong with 100,000 commercial flights per day?
WOW - what a stupid idea...
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