Flying though a wake

R

r2d2

Guest
Shortly after take-off last night on an Aer Lingus Airbus 321, the plane got a jolt, it sort of jumped and rolled a bit to one side (not at all like normal turbulence) I actually thought we'd hit something ! The pilot then announced, very calmly it has to be said, that we'd gone through the wake of another aircraft and there was nothing to be worried about. Having had a bad flight about four years ago and only recently regaining my confidence to fly unmolested by a pounding heart and rivers on my palms....It frightened the be-jaysus out of me !!! It took me a good thirty minutes to get my head and my heart back together. Has anyone else ever encountered this ? :eek:
 
Just had an idea.If planes followed in each others slipstream like bike racers,would not this save a lot of fuel esp. if the planes were heading in the same general direction?
 
Hmm, you need to think these things through a little more . . .

The reason a plane goes forward very fast is that the engines stuck under the wing pull air in the front and push it out very fast at the back.

So, the air behind a plane is going away from the plane, not following it.

I guess your idea might work for two planes which wanted to fly in opposite directions and where one of them had a big sail on top of it, or for two planes going the same direction where the one in front was about the size of a few double deckers stuck together sideways. I wouldn't remortgage the house on those ones though.

z
 
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