Five Stanford doctoral students are flying to Paris this weekend as finalists in a competition sponsored by Airbus for the best fuel-saving idea for commercial airlines. Their idea is for the passenger jets to fly in formation the way military airplanes and birds do -- something that engineers have known for decades allows for a reduce in drag. They figure that the planes don't even have to leave from the same airports or go to the same destination to take advantage of the idea. Three planes crossing the Atlantic to Europe would just need to time their rendezvous points off the east coast, join formation for the transatlantic trip, and break the formation after they cross the pond. Good luck choreographing that ballet!

The other finalists in the Airbus competition have kooky ideas like windowless cabins, solar panels to power on-board systems, plant fiber interiors, and something to do with electric wheel motors. Listen below to Geoff Bower, one of the Stanford students, discussing the formation concept with Cy Musiker on KQED.