If you’ve ever wondered why the average flight doesn’t take that long, wonder no more. Once a plane gets into the air, it can fly at amazing speeds, and they are always affected by the wind and other weather conditions. Here are some facts about airplane speeds, during takeoff, mid-flight and landing.
How Fast Do Airplanes Go?
As a general rule, airplanes can fly from 550 to 580 miles per hour, although this is most common with commercial planes. However, this is only an average because wind and the elements can affect that number. In addition, military aircraft, private jets, and other types of aircraft may have speeds that are higher or lower.
Q: How fast do airplanes go when they take off?
A: Most commercial planes take off at roughly 160 to 180 MPH.
Q: How fast do airplanes go when landing?
A: Commercial airplanes land at approximately 150 to 165 MPH.
How Fast Do Commercial Airplanes Go
Big commercial airplanes generally fly in the 550-580 MPH range, but their landing and taking-off speeds are naturally going to be different. Most commercial planes take off at roughly 160 to 180 MPH, while landings take place at approximately 150 to 165 MPH.
As a general rule, airspeed is measured according to the velocity of the plane as it flies through the air. Wind resistance can affect that speed more than anything else, and if takeoff and landing speeds vary it is due to overall weight capacity or runway length, among other factors.
Type Certificate Date Sheets, or TCDSs, are published by the FAA and give the minimum and maximum airplane speed for each type of aircraft. They publish these sheets for every make and model of aircraft in use today and are therefore a great way to get this type of information.
How Fast Do Private Jets Fly
If you love speed, private jets are the way to go. For example, the Aerion AS2, which can fly from New York to London in a little under three hours, can fly at an impressive 1,200 miles per hour, which is difficult for some people to even comprehend.
The Dassault Falcon 900 EX is made in France, can seat up to 19 passengers, and flies at speeds of more than 660 MPH. Other private jets that can fly in the 600+ miles-per-hour range include the Gulfstream G-500, the Bombardier Global 5000, and the Dassault Falcon 7X.
Two of the fastest private jets – the Gulfstream G-650 and the Cessna Citation X – can fly at speeds of more than 700 miles per hour, which proves that private jets do an amazing job of getting you from Point A to Point B quickly and safely.
How Fast Do Military Planes Fly
There are so many different types of military planes that it is difficult to determine an estimated speed, but here are a few facts.
The SR-71 set a record in 1976 when it flew at a very impressive speed of more than 2,100 miles per hour. However, this isn’t as fast as it can go, even though the maximum speed is classified so it’s something we’ll never know.
The AeroVironment RQ-14 Dragon Eye UAV, for example, only flies at around 22 miles per hour, while the Boeing X-37B flies at roughly 10,800 miles per hour. In between these extremes, however, are military planes that fly at 300, 500, and several thousand miles per hour.
If you’re interested in learning the average airplane speed for military aircraft, it is good to keep in mind that many cargo transport planes are extra-large and tend to fly at low speeds, while military combat planes are designed to go much faster. This accounts for the wide differences in the planes’ miles-per-hour numbers.
How Fast Do Single Engine Planes Fly
Of course, there are also single-engine planes, which on average can travel at around 140 miles per hour. Although they are small, their speeds are not high because they are single-engine planes that are also affected by things such as wind resistance and other factors.
On calm days when there isn’t a lot of rough wind, the ground speed of a single-engine plane can be the same as the airspeed. Some single-engine planes can even fly as fast as 250 miles per hour. Some of these planes are much bigger than others, which explains the differences in their overall speed.
In addition, when it comes to airplane speed, many turboprop planes can fly as fast as some jet airliners, although the average speed for this type of plane is roughly 450 miles per hour.
The Tupolev Tu-114 has a maximum speed of 540 miles per hour, while the XF-84H Thunderscreech is listed in The Guinness Book of World Records as having a speed of more than 620 miles per hour.
When you purchase an airline ticket, it always gives you a start and end time, but it won’t tell you how fast the plane will be flying once it’s in the air. You can estimate this number if you know the number of miles between the two cities, but knowing that different planes have different speeds is also a good thing to keep in mind.
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