How fast flies a plane

The British-French turbojet-powered passenger jet, with its iconic slender body and droop-nose silhouette, broke the mold with a maximum speed over twice the speed of sound at Mach 2.

Now, super-fast air travel is back on track, thanks to three main factors that have created a perfect storm in the aviation industry. The Lockheed SR Blackbird long-range reconnaissance aircraft, used by the United States Air Force between and , is the jet with the fastest speed record at 3. Until now that is. Researchers and manufacturers have learned from the Concorde and Tu failures and are busy at work, developing sustainable technology for supersonic aircraft.

The X QueSST plane short for Quiet Supersonic Technology has been designed to overcome the problem of the dangerously loud sonic boom by reaching a maximum speed of Mach 2.

The X is expected to be delivered in , for flight tests that will be conducted in It is this aircraft that is expected to bring civilian supersonic travel into the mainstream. In the meantime, the number of pilots in the U. In the s, about two-thirds of airline pilots were ex-military, but that number has dropped to less than one-third.

The problem could be solved, in part, by fast commercial airliners that can fly more passengers to their destinations in less time. Right now, the faster you fly the more fuel you burn. Last year, the longest non-stop flight in commercial aviation history took 19 hours from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey. At the same time, the aviation industry has never been more aware of the importance of reducing its carbon footprint, especially in light of recent climate change events. The challenge of flying faster, on less fuel, has spurred several projects researching the use of new composite materials and sustainable fuels in airline travel.

The research is set to solve the problem of fuel efficiency in super-fast aircraft. The British Aerospace , BAe for short, is a short-haul regional airliner. The BAe features a large airbrake with two petals at the rear of the fuselage below the tail rudder instead of thrust reversers. The advantage of the airbrake over thrust reversers is that they can be used during flight and allow for steep descents if needed. Still, back to that hypothetical 1, trip. So, it easily can make it with only one stop.

Seven and a half hours of flying, plus 0. So, the much faster Bellanca Viking only got there 55 minutes faster. But are all of those things a really big deal on such a long trip? Getting back home a couple of hours earlier, or maybe just getting back home at all instead of having to hotel it at the last stop, is worth a lot.

This extra 23 gallons gives the early airplanes another 1. If you do a lot of long cross-countries, installing auxiliary tanks could be considered the best and most effective speed mod. How about comparing the Cessna Skylane to a hp A36 Bonanza? The Bonanza costs around three times more than the C, but the Bonanza can make the 1, miles with one fuel stop so it would get there 1.

Okay, so after a 1,mile trip, the Bonanza folks will be at the gate hours sooner than the Cessna would be. You have to decide what that extra time is worth to you. Cirrus SR Courtesy of Cirrus. Turbos Make A Difference An aircraft equipped with a turbocharger is always going to offer increased speed and fuel efficiency over its normally aspirated counterpart because it will hold its power to a higher altitude where it gets really fast and burns less gas.

The only downside to turbochargers is that they increase the maintenance and acquisition costs, and some require a bit more pilot technique. In terms of performance, a blown A36, as an example, is supposed to cruise at knots compared to a normally aspirated version at knots, and a TC Saratoga will do knots versus knots , while the range goes up 56 miles to a whopping nautical miles.

Also, the TC Turbo Centurion series is a real sleeper at knots, while the pressurized PR is capable of running an unbelievable knots at altitude. Then there is the Boom Supersonic concept waiting in the wings, with the first proof of concept aircraft flying in the skies later this year. This aircraft will fly as fast as the Concorde and may bring back supersonic travel for some. Lastly, there is even an aircraft that plans to fly from London to New York in 90 minutes at a scary Mach 5.

Journalist - Working in news media for over a decade with outlets including 9News and the Discovery Channel, Nick is an airline marketing specialist with a Masters level education. Working closely with AirAsia, Virgin Australia, Turkish Airlines and others, Nick provides unique insight and analysis on a variety of aviation topics. Based in Sydney, Australia. The Beechcraft King Air is a small Turboprop plane built in different variants according to the number of passengers it can hold.

The smaller version for 6 passengers can fly at a cruising speed of knots. The larger version for 8 passengers can fly at knots. The most used are the ATR and the Q which have a cruise speed of around knots. Small airliners with jet engines fly much faster and much higher. A CRJ can fly at mph. All jet engines airplanes fly about the same speed.

Some are faster because they are lighter or slimmer or simply have very powerful engines such as private jet planes. How fast does an airplane go when landing depends on a number of factors dimensions, weight, wind, altitude, etc. Small single-engine airplanes take off at around 60 knots and land approximately at the same speed.

These speeds change according to weight and weather conditions.