Engineer and bird enthusiast Eiji Nakatsu copied Kingfisher to smoothen ride of Japanese Shinkansen Bullet Train
The first Japanese Shinkansen Bullet Train was built in 1964.
It could zip along at 120 mph. But at that speed passengers had a side effect.
When the train exited a tunnel, there was a loud boom sound.
And the passengers complained of an uneasy feeling.
The engineer observed the train was pushing air in front of it. As it would. The air formed a wall of wind.
When this wall collided against the air outside the tunnel, it created the loud sound. Also placed an immense pressure on the train.
The train has to slice through the air in the tunnel.
The diver bird, the kingfisher gave him the clue.
Kingfisher plunge into the water to catch fish.
Their bills, shaped like knives, cut through the air and do not make a ripple.
Nakatsu found shape of kingfisher’s bill as the best.
Today Japan’s Bullet trains have long, beaks that get them to exit noiselessly out of tunnels.
In fact, they are 10 percent faster and 20 percent more fuel-efficient. than their predecessors.
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