Two NASA F/A-18 aircraft fly a test point for the Autonomous Formation Flight project over California's Mojave Desert. The second flight phase mapped the wingtip vortex of the lead aircraft, the Systems Research Aircraft (tail number 847), on the trailing F/A-18 tail number 847.
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Two NASA F/A-18 aircraft fly a test point for the Autonomous Formation Flight project over California’s Mojave Desert. The second flight phase mapped the wingtip vortex of the lead aircraft, the Systems Research Aircraft (tail number 847), on the trailing F/A-18 tail number 847. Wingtip vortex was a spiraling wind flowing from the wing during flight. The project studied the drag and fuel reduction of precision formation flying.› Read Project DescriptionSeptember 20, 2001NASA Photo / Lori Losey