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New York flight goes SUPERSONIC
A plane flying from New York to London Heathrow hit near supersonic speeds yesterday after getting caught up in a powerhouse jet stream. British Airways Flight 114, a Boeing 777-200 jet, took off from JFK at 10.50pm Eastern Standard Time (EST), and landed at 9.06am local time at London Heathrow. (www.dailymail.co.uk) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
I'm not sure why this is news, this has been happening quite a bit recently, with the jetstream being where it is. I've seen quite a few planes grounding over 1200 km/h crossing the Atlantic. (Eastbound of course)
Tried to edit and it cut it short. Think it was a record run for a Non Super Sonic jet with a ground speed over 700. Normal is 550 or so and a 7 hour trip.
Wonder why it made news looks about the same but they said it was a record ??
Speed of sound is in relation to the air around the aircraft. If you are flying with a 200mph tailwind, then the speed of sound would be whatever it normally is plus 200mph. I really doubt that this Boeing 777 was almost supersonic.
Close, but the speed of sound is whatever it is period, no plus or minus for wind! Speed of sound depends solely on the density of the medium through which it travels. Speed of sound at sea level, about 760 MPH. At FL450, about 650 MPH. The 777 was probably cruising at around .84 Mach or 84% the speed of sound, then you get the groundspeed by adding the tailwind. TAS was around 460 Knts. I'm guessing that's what you meant to say but didn't exactly.
Now here I tried to be the no comment one by basically saying nothing and here you are the one that jumps in with a correction. LOL. I will add though, while I am in here, that you are very correct. There is a lot of confusion at times of ground speed and KTS(TAS) but as usual, your clarity is impeccable
Thanks, didn't man to steal your thunder, just thought this would be a noncontroversial clarification for what trips a lot of folks up. That would be TAS, IAS, GS, and Mach. The numbers and differences get much bigger in the flight levels as you well know. Cheers!
Have a good 'un. I'm outa here. LOL