NASA and Boeing testing eco-friendly technologies for the planes

If the experiment is successful, planes can reduce fuel consumption by 6 percent

The time has arrived where the importance of protecting the Mother Nature has been brought up in environmental debates once again. Various companies are working towards their green policies because they want a soft image in the eyes of their customers and also because the increased level of awareness has made us more responsible towards our role in environment protection. NASA’s experimental fuel-saving techniques are going to debut with the 757 Boeing’s ecoDemonstrator which will start its series of flights this spring.

Out of these two experimental techniques, the Active Flow Control Enhanced Vertical Tail Flight Experiment called for an installation of 31 tiny jets on the vertical tail or dorsal fin of the plane. These jets are extremely crucial as they have the ability to manipulate the flow of air over the tail’s surface. Consequently, this helps to generate enough force which can stabilize the plane during takeoff and landing, even if the fin’s around 17 percent smaller than usual. The plane would be much lighter with a smaller tail and this means lesser fuel consumption.

After putting in these small jets through the wringer, ecoDemonstrator is going to do a series of test flights in order to test five different insect-repellent plane coatings. This is the most critical aspect of the flight as even a thing as tiny as a small bug can cause disruptions in the air flow surrounding the wings of the plane. If this air flow remains smooth, planes can reduce their fuel consumption by as much as 6 percent. It might appear to be a small change to us but this small percentage can lead to savings up to millions of dollars and the environment will have to bear a lower amount of emissions.