Early Testing Shows A 10 Percent Jump In Fuel Economy
Migrating birds, NASCAR drivers and Tour de France bicyclists already get it. And now the Air Force is thinking about flying gas-guzzling cargo aircraft in formation -- 'dragging' off one another -- on long-haul flights across the oceans. Flight tests with C-17s "vortex surfing" at Edwards Air Force Base, CA, Sept. 6 and Oct. 2, have demonstrated potentially large savings of fuel and money by doing what geese do naturally.