Re: Do you Zaino?
Only poking fun... I'm no physicist. I have a feeling washing a jumbo jet saves fuel because it reduces the weight of the aircraft, the same reason why NASA stopped painting the Space Shuttle system's external tank (used to be white painted over the orange foam that now always falls off... hehe) to save weight--that much paint weighs, literally, tons--and thus, in their case, increase Orbiter payload capabilities (they're not worried about fuel economy, per se, just getting to orbit safely and reliably with the maximum possible payload.)
So, the bigger the vehicle, the more likely that washing (especially if the vehicle's REALLY dirty) would provide fuel savings... another example is, if you've ever watched Discovery's show "Dangerous Catch" about the Alaskan crab fishing fleet, when a storm moves in and the boats start icing over, the crew stop what they're doing to chip off all the ice before the boat capsizes (most likely result) or goes dead in the water from the excess weight.
Last edited by GeekGal; 12-01-2007 at 08:27 AM.
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