In the magical era of the 20th century, There was also a supersonic passenger plane. Rich people could be blown away from there. From New York to London within 3 hours.Recently, many startups I promise to repeat that feat.But it turns out that if you want to fly faster than the speed of sound, you need to book your flight on a particularly windy day.
This weekend, three airliners flying from the United States to Europe got caught in a particularly fast-moving jet stream, exceeding their normal flight speed. report futurism. In fact, the jet stream was so strong on Saturday that all three planes were flying at more than 800 mph, well above the speed of sound, which is 767 mph.
Three flights that exceeded the speed of sound Also included was a Virgin Atlantic jet. The flight from Washington to London reached speeds of 1302 mph, and the flight from Newark to Lisbon reached 1335 mph. Both of these flights Operated by Boeing 787 An aircraft that normally flies at approximately 600 miles per hour.
Despite the impressive speed, some minor technical issues caused the three flights to It didn’t actually break through the sound barrier.Even though they are traveling much faster than the speed of sound. Futurism explains:
Virgin Atlantic and two other flights, including one that reached a ground speed of 835 mph from Newark, New Jersey, to Lisbon, Portugal, were unable to break the sound barrier because they were in the jet stream. , WaPo points out. Outside.
The important thing to note is that although the plane was traveling faster than the speed of sound relative to the ground, it was not traveling faster than the surrounding air at 767 mph, so it did not actually break the sound barrier. there is no.
But how fast was the jet stream blowing to push these planes past the 800 mph standard? According to the National Weather Service, wind speeds peak at about 265 mph, It was the second highest wind speed recorded by the Baltimore Observatory, which shared the value.
Passengers on board may not have had the thrill of breaking the sound barrier, but at least they could enjoy a fairly quick flight. In fact, Futurism reports: plane from washington Our flight to London arrived 45 minutes early thanks to the jet stream.
So the next time you book a long-haul flight, don’t forget to check the long-term weather forecast.
