Airbus's 'fello'fly' program explores formation flying as a fuel-saving technique, where a follower aircraft positions itself in the smooth updraft of a leading aircraft's wake to recover otherwise wasted kinetic energy. This approach can reduce trip fuel consumption and emissions by around 5% for the follower aircraft, making it most beneficial on long-haul routes exceeding 2,000 nautical miles. Key factors affecting savings include aircraft pairing, the follower's position on the vortex, time spent in formation, and fuel used to enter the formation.Open full document
Notes
Airbus presentation by Philippe Masson at the Aviation Noise & Emissions Symposium (ANES) 2023, UC Davis, May 1-3, 2023, on the fello’fly Wake Energy Retrieval (WER) formation flying concept. Describes how a follower aircraft positioned in the smooth updraft of a leader aircraft’s wake vortex can achieve approximately 5% trip fuel and emissions reduction on sectors above 2000 NM. Key parameters include aircraft pairing, position on vortex, time in formation, and formating losses.