The aviation industry is planning to test whether mimicking the way birds fly in formation can significantly reduce fuel use, in an effort to cut emissions.
Plane manufacturer Airbus will run two demonstrator flights in the first half of next year. The idea, inspired by the v-formation that geese migrate in, is for one plane to take off soon after another, following closely and precisely enough to take advantage of the air vortex produced in the first plane鈥檚 wake. It could cut fuel use by 5-10 per cent per trip, says Airbus.
If initial tests go well, the firm will then try the technique with a real passenger plane following an Airbus demonstrator flight, says Sandra Bour Schaeffer at Airbus. The company is already working with two airlines on the project, she says, for a test in 2021. Bour Schaeffer says that if challenges can be overcome, the technique could be used on normal flights by 2025.
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A key issue will be working out whether planes鈥� on-board systems can help pilots find the sweet spot in the wake created by the plane in front, because the vortex wouldn鈥檛 be visible to them.
鈥淲e have to demonstrate the safe operation, we have to demonstrate that we can find a spot where passenger comfort is not affected because we basically want to benefit from the updraft of the vortex,鈥� says Bour Schaeffer. She doesn鈥檛 expect more turbulent take-offs, but says there is the possibility that fuel savings might not be as great as hoped.
Should the idea prove safe and is more widely deployed, Airbus wants to focus first on flights over oceans, where the technique could be easier because the airspace is less congested.
Christopher Paling at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, says: 鈥淚f this does prove to be feasible, then it will be a challenge for flight planners and air traffic controllers to sequence aircraft. Not a showstopper though.鈥�
The trials come as the aviation sector, which accounts for more than 2 per cent of global carbon emissions, faces a backlash over its growing contribution to climate change. One recent poll found that two-thirds of people in the UK back limits on flights.
