Show Bugs Are A Puzzle To Plane Designers Dead Insects Create Drag on Ships Ship's Wing Surfaces BALTIMORE Mans Man's Mans Man's unceasing war on bugs has taken a new twist in the air age The concern of plane designers is hordes of winged insects who collide collide collide col col- col- col lide with flying aircraft and get themselves killed killed The problem is How to keep flies off airplane wings Dead insects glued all over the wings spoil to an amazing extent the smoothness required for the low-drag low wings of future airplanes Bugs are among the factors that may eliminate the future of low- low drag wings altogether The British even tried wrapping part of a planes plane's wings in paper which the pilot could rip off at feet altitude Flies they found dont don't venture that high Paper and dead bugs then were blown away leaving a perfectly smooth surface The wings flies difficulty was Illustrated in recent British experiments experiments experiments ments with a pursuit plane Wings were smoothed and pol pol- fished They were checked with a gadget that measures surface waviness waviness ness nes within one of an inch Then with the smoothed wings tests began on technical aspects of low-drag low flying That's where the flies came in An original report of the experiments experiments experiments ments put it this way The flies on hitting the surface disintegrate and are found in small parts stuck to the surface with a particularly potent glue As a result the drag on the wing was Increased from 50 to per cent This was so disturbing that for awhile the craft was flown before before before be be- fore 9 a. a m. m while the flies presumably presumably pre pre- sum ably were asleep But with the arrival of warmer weather the bugs got active earlier |