What is the highest you have flown (excluding Concorde)

[serfty]

... Tail winds can be very significant in some parts of the world.

...
I awoke as the aircraft was nearing the Persian or Arabian Gulf and breakfast was being served. As I was eating this I noted the MAP was showing a “Tail Wind” of 170 km/h with a ground speed of 1100 km/h. ...

That the fastest ground speed I can recall. I believe it can get much faster ...

 

[NM]

That the fastest ground speed I can recall. I believe it can get much faster ...

I have seen similar figures to those you quote.

 

[2muchplastic]

I have seen similar figures to those you quote.

I have too. My most recent SIN-BNE on an SQ A333 was one of them, where we had a c.190km/h tail wind over central QLD and were hitting 1050km/h ground speed.
Made for a very fast (<7hrs) flight.

 

[markis10]

Is a reference to FL below 10,000' ever used? I thought below the transition altitude 10,000-11,000 height is given above sea level.

Tansition level is FL110 in Australia - however it can go much lower overseas, and higher such as in the states its FL180.

 

[docjames]

Just seen 1100kph touched in a 747-300.

Also seen 630kph at cruise (over bay of bengal) and remember thinking it would be a loooong trip to LHR.

 

[Evan]

Just seen 1100kph touched in a 747-300.

Also seen 630kph at cruise (over bay of bengal) and remember thinking it would be a loooong trip to LHR.

Don't you hate it when you see such slow cruise speeds on long trips, i was on a PVG-LHR on a BA 777 and at one stage we even headed east before we tried to head west again ! 290+ head winds !!! thankfully once we got north far enough it was not so bad.

 

[mannej]

Don't you hate it when you see such slow cruise speeds on long trips, i was on a PVG-LHR on a BA 777 and at one stage we even headed east before we tried to head west again ! 290+ head winds !!! thankfully once we got north far enough it was not so bad.

On the flip side, making up lost time heading out of LHR is comforting when you have tight connections to make at DXB. From memory we were cruising at around 1100kmh on an EK773.

HKG-KIX is normally around a 2hr45 min flight, and due to tail winds we cruised around 1050kmh and made it there in 2hrs on a CX773

Head winds are annoying though, especially when they are over 100kmh.

 

[NM]

Tail winds are annoying though, especially ...

... for the passengers seated around you

 

[mannej]

... for the passengers seated around you

Oops, my bad

 

[NYCguy]

Groundspeedrecords.com

 

[Moody]

Groundspeedrecords.com

Strange - the top speed for the Concorde in that link is 1205 knots which is around mach 1.8. I thought it regularly cruised at over mach 2 ?????

 

[NYCguy]

It all depends on the density of the air you're flying through.

Have a play here:

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/mach.html

Using this tool, you can calculate that at FL500 (15240 metres), traveling at 1205 knots (620 metres/second), you're at Mach 2.1, relative to the speed of sound through the cold, rarified atmosphere at that altitude.

 

[Warks]

Be nice if those records were in kph or at least had both. I know they can be converted but at a glance (as a non-flyboy) it's pretty meaningless.


Flying - the last refuge of the imperial measures system (apart from the USA (all) and the UK road system)

 

[NYCguy]

Be nice if those records were in kph or at least had both. I know they can be converted but at a glance (as a non-flyboy) it's pretty meaningless.


Flying - the last refuge of the imperial measures system (apart from the USA (all) and the UK road system)

One knot = 1.85 km/hr.

 

[medhead]

Flying - the last refuge of the imperial measures system (apart from the USA (all) and the UK road system)

Or shipping.

Being as a nm is a unit that has a physical meaning for people travelling vast distances over the earth's surface, I don't really see the problem. It is not a mile for example and I'm yet to hear general reference to a nkm. (through I'm sure they exist (at least physically they do)

 

[serfty]

Or shipping.

Being as a nm is a unit that has a physical meaning for people travelling vast distances over the earth's surface, I don't really see the problem. It is not a mile for example and I'm yet to hear general reference to a nkm. (through I'm sure they exist (at least physically they do)

Yeah, tell me about it - some things are just hard to fathom!

 

[NYCguy]

Yeah, tell me about it - some things are just hard to fathom!

Kaboom-tish!

 

[Warks]

Kaboom-tish!

Give him an inch and he'll take a kilometre (or should that be nautical kilometre):mrgreen:

 

[NYCguy]

A little research on the origins of the nautical mile has revealed that one NM (ie nautical mile, not the esteemed AFF moderator who uses an identical moniker) is equivalent to one minute of arc of latitude along any meridian. Good old Wikipedia to the rescue again...

Nautical mile - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[NM]

A little research on the origins of the nautical mile has revealed that one NM (ie nautical mile, not the esteemed AFF moderator who uses an identical moniker) ...

One NM is always enough .