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Airplane Coatings Help Recoup Fuel Efficiency Lost To Bug Splatter

Posted by samzenpus on from the and-stay-off dept.

MTorrice writes: When bugs hit the wings of oncoming airplanes, they create a problem. Their blood, called hemolymph, sticks to an airplane's wings, disrupting the smooth airflow over them and reducing the aircraft's fuel efficiency. To fight the problem, NASA is working on developing a coating that could help aircraft repel bug remains during flight. After experimenting with almost 200 different formulations, researchers recently flight-tested a few promising candidates. Results showed that they could reduce the amount of stuck bug guts on the wings by up to 40%. With further optimization, NASA says such coatings could allow planes to use 5% less fuel.

2 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. Re:I'm skeptical of the 5% claim by Falconhell · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not weight, it's maintaining laminar flow. It only takes very small objects to turbulate the boundary layer, increasing drag considerably.

  2. Help me with the puzzle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Under every summary, there's a small puzzle of colored blocks. Looks like it says "bird fucking", but I don't get it.