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Achieve Flocking/Swarming performance in formation flying through
zen technicalities
Zen Formation
Flying (ZFF) as it is understood here, comes from emails exchanged
between Gianbattista Molinaro, a well known aerobatic pilot, and
Marco Testi (me). I asked for technicalities on formation flying
and i got the reply to read "Zen in the art of archery"
("Zen in der Kunst des Bogenschiessens", by
Eugen Herrigel)
So i've read
the book and thought about it. I came out with the idea that the
"zen state" achieved during the art of zen archery -
in my words "an entanglement among bow, arrow, man, space,
target in which the identity (=state) of subsystems is lost and
causalities and effects are mixed (or better, tensor producted)
in an action space" - can be transposed in formation flying
by considering an entanglement among the states of participating
aircrafts, pilots and environment. This entanglement would hold
until someone makes a deliberate, causal will, causal action within
the dynamics of the entanglement itself, breaking it. This vision
of formation flying is basically different from the "follow
the leader" strategy.
The entanglement thing noted above flashes an immediate example
of such a thing going on in nature, the flight of flock of birds
or swarm of insects, in which a sort of "collective entity"
forms, acting like a single, fully entangled entity. This is what
i call Zen Formation Flying.
| I
wish to emphasis that verbal description, conceptualisation,
analogies given along this program are only one of the "tools"
that I -mere occidental- cannot help giving to transmit
or induce this Zen Formation Flying thing. Maybe -in full
respect of well written Koans- what you find here is only
a reservoir of "proto" koans or scrapbook ideas
for koans you can utilize for inducing the ZFF thing.
Here you are only reading stuff. This initiative is neither
a "clean" "zen initiative", neither
a manual for formation flying. It is just an R&D venture
trying to throw a practical-aimed bridge between the two
worlds |
Maybe at this point you are asking yourself: "Is zen formation
flying/swarm flying dangerous?" The answer is absolutely
***YES***
As I figure out, one may think about this sort of flying as
being at least "instinctive" (that's the minimum!)...
imagine that basically you just gather up in sky with the others
and begin to free your mind as you "dance" with the
others, maybe starting from far away in space, and closing up
and up as your mind gets more free and more free through the
"trip". You are mixing yourself in a flock of flying
things, you yourself being "will-less" and being "taken"
by a collective behaviour in which the whole thing is acting
and pulsating and nothing else.
In "Zen Formation Flying" as soon as you try to get
a reference, an explicit "leader" for your flying,
you are committing death penalty because you are conscious or
looking for consciousness, of identity, and you loose the "zen
state" and probably yours and someone else's life. If you
are not "in the zone" you are instantly ramming or
getting rammed by someone else, most of the whole flock would
simply annihilate itself
Statistical
Mechanics, common sense and practical flock flying observation
tell me that's good to fly sufficiently parallel to the others
anyhow ;-) (thanks Daddy ;-))
Should zen
be the way for achieving such "swarmig", "flocking"
performance, the technicalities for how to do this are well worth
being explored. This R&D venture is trying to build up a set
of knowledge and practice by:
- looking
at the existing literature in formation flying
- establishing
collaborations with formation flying pilots, interested in developing
the topic
- studying
existing literature concerning flock and swarm flying
- establishing
analogies with Quantum Mechanics, specifically on the formalism
of entangled states and measure
- working
out qualitative and quantitative specifications for the realisation
of a cognitive correlation dynamics through sensorial and action
pathways among flock members, as it is happening in Quantum
dynamics through physical action among subsystems
- Doing practical research
in formation flying with existing aircrafts and "zen-prone"
pilots (not kamikaze-prone though :-))
- realizing
and flying the Masterblaster, a hardwired
pilot/machine contraption, within the Masterblaster Choreography
Unit Initiative
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Aerial
Creatures & Cognitive Integration will contact worldwide the
most number of formation flying teams and pilots and suggest the
topic. Pilots are welcome to introduce themselves and discuss
their thoughts. The same campaign will be carried out with people
with a practice in zen technicalities and wishing to explore the
topic.
Up to date (14th Jan 2005)
contact on the topics are established with:
- [thread starter] Gianbattista
Molinaro, former PAN pilot (MB339), current RedBull Team (SU-31)
a newsgroup or forum structure
will soon be given in order to facilitate submission of topics
and threading
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This
is mrk's job. Should you be technically valid in one of the disciplines
mentioned and holding a vision in mixing them together, please
contact me.
Basically, Phase #1 will
attempt
to frame a cognitive correlation dynamics taking place through
sensorial and action pathways among flock members, and specify
the characteristic/properties this dynamic must accomplish in
order to have the "flock flying thing".
The analogy with the zen will be used as a reservoir of working
and practical examples. The analogy with Quantum and Statistical
Mechanics will provide formal dynamic technicalities.
Again, I overstress the fact that this "conceptualisation"
is only a mean for inducing practical technicalities in ZFF.Conceptualisation
and scientific rendering is NOT the final aim of the initiative.
The final aim is always the same: GO FLY |
