V formation - wikipedia V formation This article is about the flight formation of birds. For the military aircraft formation, see Vic formation. Eurasian cranes in a V formation. A V formation ( sometimes called a skein ) is the symmetric V - shaped flight formation of flights of geese, ducks, and other migratory birds. V formations also improve the fuel efficiency of aircraft and are used on military flight missions. Contents 1 Aerodynamics 2 Military flight missions 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External links Aerodynamics The V formation possibly improves the efficiency of flying birds, particularly over long migratory routes. All the birds except the first fly in the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead. The upwash assists each bird in supporting its own weight in flight, in the same way a glider can climb or maintain height indefinitely in rising air. According to a 1970 paper, in a V formation of 25 members, each bird can achieve a reduction of induced drag and as a result increase their range by 71 %. The birds flying at the tips and at the front are rotated in a timely cyclical fashion to spread flight fatigue equally among the flock members. Canada geese are a common example demonstrating the V formation. Military flight missions IRIAF F - 4 Phantoms in a V formation over 6th TAB of Iran The `` V '', or `` Vic '' formation is a basic flight formation for military aircraft in many air forces. The Vic formation is also common in ceremonial flyovers and airshow flights. Air Mobility Command, which accounts for 20 percent of all avionic fuel usage by the United States federal government, is experimenting with autopilot changes to find the best tradeoff between the reduced drag of ' vortex surfing ' and the resulting ' ride qualities ' of flying through another aircraft 's wake. References Jump up ^ USA Today : `` Why birds fly in a V - formation '' by Traci Watson January 15, 2014 Jump up ^ Lissaman, P.B.S. & Shollenberger, C.A. ( 1970 ). Formation flight of birds. Science 168 ( 3934 ) : 1003 -- 1005 ( same on JSTOR ) Jump up ^ Drinnon, Roger. `` ' Vortex surfing ' could be revolutionary. '' Air Mobility Command, 10 October 2012. Jump up ^ Warwick, Graham. `` C - 17 s Go Surfing, to Save Fuel. '' Aviation Week, 12 October 2012. Bibliography Holmes, Tony. Spitfire vs Bf 109 : Battle of Britain. Oxford, UK / New York : Osprey, 2007. ISBN 1 - 84603 - 190 - 7. External links Media related to V formations at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=V_formation&oldid=801083477 '' Categories : Bird migration Bird flight Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Esperanto Français Nederlands Polski Русский සිංහල Svenska Türkçe Edit links This page was last edited on 17 September 2017, at 15 : 22. About Wikipedia

Question: what kind of birds fly in a v formation
Answer: geese