NASA Testing Bug Repellent Coatings on Airplane to Improve Fuel Use

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NASA is conducting test flights of an airplane coated with bug repellent in an effort to reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The Techly website reports “keeping the flow of air over a plane’s wings smooth can reduce drag by as much as 6 percent,” so NASA is developing a way to keep smashed insects stay off a plane’s wings. Researchers there have created five different anti-stick coatings they are testing out on the wings of a special Boeing 757.  The test results will be made public, NASA says, so the aviation industry can benefit from this method of reducing emissions by reducing drag.