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I would think that the following plane is encountering less drag by surfing the pressure waves of the first, because it is by definition moving into lower press
by adammarples 2y ago
I would think that the following plane is encountering less drag by surfing the pressure waves of the first, because it is by definition moving into lower pressure air on the back of that wave, which offers less resistance. It seems like it's using the wasted energy that the first plane expended moving the air in the first place, while increasing the size of the first plane would waste even more energy.
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 2y agoThere's no such thing as free energy though. "Less resistance" is not "no resistance", there's still drag on that 2nd plane and it's going to cost the 1st plane more energy to pull it. I think the extra energy to pull a 2nd plane would be greater than putting a longer body on the 1st plane because the air wouldn't need to flow over another nose and set of wings.