Why do Geese Fly in a "V" Formation?

            As a little kid I was always so interested in why and how geese knew to fly in a “V” formation.  I used to ask questions like why did they pick the letter V, and how do they even know what a V looks like? 

            After learning a little bit about physics I can now answer the age old question of “Why do Geese fly in a “V” formation?”  The answer is, because when they fly in a V formation they can fly over 50% further than any one goose flying alone.  The truth is that the goose understood aerodynamics hundreds of years before people even started to think about physics.  The goose instinctively knows to fly in a V because it’s easier, don’t people always take the easiest and fastest rout?  The goose does this also, when geese fly in a V formation there is only one goose that is flying head on into the wind.  That bird is the head bird, as it flies. air currents are created behind it.  The outer air current from the outer top of the wing is used by the bird flying behind it to increase the amount of lift that the bird receives with each flap of its wings.  As this happens the birds span out in the shape of a V.  Then when the lead bird gets tired it drops back to the end of the V and the formation shifts up a new lead bird.