Conserving Energy: Wingtip Sails

Series

Series Name: Living Tomorrow

Issue

Issue No.

238

Length of issue (in feet)

524

Stories in this Issue:

Story

Story No. within this Issue

3 / 3

Summary

COI synopsis: Our resources of fossil fuels are dwindling fast, yet our demands for energy seem to be ever increasing: bigger, thirstier planes; greater quantities of fuel burnt just to keep us warm; and more and more fuel greedy cars. This programme looks at some new ideas for reducing our overall energy needs, in the air, in the home, and on the roads. The ultimate flyers - birds - display strange wingtip feathers when landing or taking off. A British plane designer wondered why, and believing that nature usually got it right, he fitted similar wingtip sails onto a plane’s wing. Windtunnel tests, followed by tests in the air, are showing that this simple addition can, curiously enough, reduce the drag on the wing. It makes the wings more efficient - and the planes less thirsty especially at take-off or landing.

Researcher Comments

Story also appears in ‘Living Tomorrow No. 305’

Keywords

Aviation; Aircraft; Science and technology; Birds; Engineering; Energy resources; Design

Written sources

COI Microfilm Roll 55 [BFI National Archive] Used for synopsis

COI Reference

MI 1458/238

Credits:

Sponsor: Central Office of Information (COI)
Sponsor: Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Cutter: Fred Goodland

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name: British Film Institute (BFI)
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Record Stats