KoKo

Old timers get nose bleeds opening that high.

You can see this for yourself with a simple experiment. Drive about 70-mph down the highway, roll down the window, and stick your hand out, palm into the wind. With your fingers together, note the amount of wind force pushing on your hand. Next, open your fingers as wide as you can, and note the force of the wind on your hand - it should feel about the same, or less. Lastly, close your fingers a little so that there is still some space between them, but not as much - you will feel MORE drag then when the fingers are wide open. It's the same surface area, but the wind is blowing through your fingers differently. I used to do this to determine the optimum hand position for making the best wind deflections for fast maneuvers. Cupping the hands with fingers closed seems like the logical choice, but it's not so. Having the fingers open a little bit produces more drag than with the fingers closed. Probably the same principal with a bunch of skydivers in formation.