Planes could fly in flocks to save fuel

A new computer system could allow passenger jets to fly in 'flocks' to save fuel.

Birds flying in a V-shaped formation use less energy because they encounter less wind resistance when sheltering in the wake of their neighbours.

Experts believe if planes flew in flocks, airlines could save as much as £355,000 per plane each year on fuel.

US researchers will test the system in two F-18 fighter planes.

The system contains a Global Positioning System receiver which allows a plane to determine its location relative to the other planes.

If a plane moves slightly out of formation, a computer algorithm calculates how to restore the formation.

Jason Speyer and Walton Williamson, from the University of California, are testing the system, which is about the size of a shoebox, with collaborators from Boeing and NASA.

Reports say the tests will take place at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centre at Edward's Air Force Base in the California desert. If the system is proven safe, they will test three or more planes.

The UCLA device also contains a wireless communications unit and instruments for tracking the aircraft's position, velocity and attitude.

Drag, and hence fuel costs, are only reduced if planes are precisely placed.

Laboratory simulations suggest the UCLA instrument could control a plane's position with an error of just 10 centimetres.