An experimental Airbus concept shows airplanes flying in formation to save fuel. This concept carefully capitalizes on wake turbulence, which engineers have fought against for more than a century.

aircraft, part of the Autonomous Formation Flight (AFF) project based at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., flew the mission in early December. During the 96-minute flight, the ...

It's common to see line-shaped clouds in the sky, known as contrails, trailing behind the engines of a jet airplane. What's not always visible is a vortex coming off of the tip of each wing--like two ...

CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. If a 'wingtip vortex' - a concentrated air turbulence created by another plane - was responsible for bringing down Delta Airlines Flight 1141 on ...

The study of vortex dynamics in fluid mechanics is critical for both advancing aeronautical design and minimising flow-induced hazards. At its core, vortex dynamics examines the formation, evolution, ...

Recent research demonstrated that, although most wing shapes used today create turbulent wake vortices, wing geometrics can be designed to reduce or eliminate wingtip vortices almost entirely. In the ...