Could ‘flying piano’ help transform air cargo?

American start-up Aerolane is looking for the secret to air surfing.

Geese already know how to do this. When you see them flying in a v-formation, they are navigating the air currents created by the members of the formation in front of and around them.

At an airfield in Texas, Todd Graetz hopes to use that concept to disrupt the air cargo market.

Aerolane has imitated the tricks used by migrating birds, aided by modified aircraft towed into the air by another aircraft.

The smoke emitted by the lead plane allowed cameras installed in the towed plane to capture the vortices in the air that a glider can use to stay aloft.

Their latest test aircraft is known as the “flying piano” because of its poor gliding characteristics.

Its twin engines run on electricity as it glides along with spinning propellers for purely aerodynamic purposes.

Other tests have measured the tension in the traction line.

They noticed when the line shrank, indicating that the plane was surfing along the currents created by the plane ahead.

Aerolane’s plan is to feed all this data into a program that will guide an unmanned cargo plane through wakes and turbulence to take advantage of long-distance gliding opportunities without burning fuel.

One or more such cargo planes could be towed by an aircraft, also carrying cargo, to their destination where they would land autonomously.

The only fuel cost would come from supplying the engines of the towing aircraft.

In theory this should work like a truck pulling a trailer, with air currents doing most of the heavy lifting. It’s what Mr. Graetz calls “a combination of sliding and surfing.”

The same idea happened with Airbus, which tested the technique in 2021 with two A350 planes flying 3 km (1.9 miles) apart across the Atlantic.

Although the aircraft was not attached to a towing line, the experiment saw an aircraft gain lift from the A350’s main step to reduce CO2 emissions and fuel burn.

Mr Graetz, a pilot with 12 years’ experience, founded Aerolane with Gur Kimchi, a veteran of Amazon’s drone delivery project, on the basis that “there has to be a better way to get more out of existing aircraft”.

The project has raised eyebrows among experienced pilots. Flying large aircraft in commercial airspace means meeting strict flight safety rules.

For example, the towing aircraft must be confident that it can release the tow line at any point in flight, safe in the knowledge that the autopiloted aircraft can land on a runway without falling on the local population.

Aerolane says a small electric motor driving a propeller will act as a safety net on its cargo planes, giving them enough juice to get going again if a landing looks wrong or to divert to another place nearby.

Mr. Graetz counters that Aerolane employs active commercial pilots who are stubborn about project practices.

“We’ve engaged outside counsel to be devil’s advocates,” he adds.

He says the big freight businesses are interested in anything that allows them to lower the cost of shipping.

In addition to the cost of fuel, airlines also have to think about emissions from aircraft engines and pilot shortages.

James Earl, a former RAF helicopter pilot and aviation consultant, thinks Mr Graetz may be onto something.

“It stands to reason that profits can be made by sliding and combining efforts in the sky. And any innovation in cargo space is good.”

However, he cautions that public acceptance of unpowered cargo flights over built-up areas is another matter entirely.

“It needs to have a good glide radius to get to a landing site in the event of a major failure from the towing aircraft. However, whether this can be effectively communicated to the public is another matter.”

Regulators are also likely to be wary, especially in the US, where the Federal Aviation Authority is under pressure serious problems with Boeing aircraft.

Mr. Graetz responds that his team has met every request from the FAA thus far. “The FAA has always been risk averse. That’s their job!”

Fred Lopez spent 36 years in aviation operations at freight giant UPS. As he says, he has put “my entire grown-up life” into finding the most cost-effective way to run an air transport business.

Mr. Lopez admits he was deeply skeptical about freighters when Aerolane first approached him. But the prospect of serious fuel savings won him over, and he now sits on their advisory board.

Reducing fuel costs is an obsession in civil aviation. When the inverted wingtips we see out the cockpit window became a standard design feature, airlines cut fuel costs by about 5%.

But jetliners only consume the fuel required by their towing aircraft. If this is also a cargo plane, a pair of jets towed by one plane represents a significant reduction in fuel consumption on a large shipment.

Aerolane’s initial design uses their autopilot plus what Mr. Lopez calls a human “safety pilot.” This should make FAA certification easier.

“The airline is not trying to change everything in one go,” he says.

Their ultimate goal is autonomous operation using artificial intelligence, or as Mr. Lopez “pull the pilot out of the seat.”

And, if the flying piano can surf, then who knows what’s possible?