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NASA tests nonstick aircraft wing coatings that let bug juice slide
Who knew that keeping bug guts off airplanes could be a mission for NASA?
It turns out that insect "residue" splattering on the wings of big aircraft as they take off is a real problem looking for a serious solution.
"They are really small," conceded Christopher Wohl, senior research materials engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. "But the problem is that, as these residues accumulate on the wing, they can impact the airflow."
And anything that affects airflow adds to a plane's drag, decreasing efficiency and increasing fuel use and costs.
--- Snip ---
It turns out that insect "residue" splattering on the wings of big aircraft as they take off is a real problem looking for a serious solution.
"They are really small," conceded Christopher Wohl, senior research materials engineer at NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. "But the problem is that, as these residues accumulate on the wing, they can impact the airflow."
And anything that affects airflow adds to a plane's drag, decreasing efficiency and increasing fuel use and costs.
--- Snip ---
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-bugs-planes-20150627-story.html
Interesting work on a problem I'd certainly never thought of before...
3 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
Pretty funny that German actually has a word (albeit perhaps a vulgar colloquialism) for people that pee in public: "Wildpinkler". A very adaptive language...
