Posted on 02/09/2020 3:27:05 PM PST by DUMBGRUNT
With a little help from a massive tailwind, of course.
British Airways Boeing 747 traveled from New York to London in just four hours and 56 minutes, hitting a top ground speed of 825 miles per hour and setting a subsonic flight record for the route.
That 250+ mph tailwind meant that the 747’s true airspeed was still below the speed of sound, but that doesn’t take away from how incredible it is to get across the Atlantic in just over four hours.
It should be mentioned that while flight BA112 smashed the subsonic record, the fastest time from NYC to London was set by the engineering marvel, Concorde. The aircraft's top commercial flight hit speeds of 1,350 mph and accomplished the route in just two hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
That’s ground speed. The jet stream is a wonderful thing.
Once when flying from Tulsa to Atlanta, the pilot came on the speaker and said we would arrive on time despite leaving late.
He said there was a tail wind and it was really blowing. I guess it does make a difference.
Four hours 56 minutes isn’t “just over 4 hours.” It’s more like “just about 5 hours.”
In my earlier corporate days, when I was traveling 80-90% of the time for work reasons..I accumulated over 1,000,000 Frequent Flyer miles..
I used 300,000 for two round trip Concorde Tickets, my wife and I flew NYC to London at a top speed of Mach 2....pretty cool...
That was one hell of a tail wind..
I rode on a 747 to and from the middle east. I liked that plane ride.
747 is still setting records.
On a good day, even an old 747 can be a Concorde junior
I used 300,000 for two round trip Concorde Tickets, my wife and I flew NYC to London at a top speed of Mach 2....pretty cool...
Totally cool!
Speedbird indeed!
ONE HECK’OF’A’STORM hitting Isles and west Europe.
One of my favorite flights was taking a Diamond aircraft around Mt Evens in Colorado. Coming down the front range we hit a ground speed of 205 kts. For a bird designed to do about 140 kts, that was fun.
Was there any ground reference to the ground speed?
No. Fake news.
four hours and 56 minutes is fractionally under 5 hours, not "just over 4 hours". Caleb's engaging in some intellectual dishonesty here. A fiction writer might prefer the term 'poetic license', however.
Unless it is a headwind.
Recall watching some little spotter type plane in SE Asia take off into a stiff wind. Hardly started rolling before rising up like an elevator, almost no forward progress.
They had a record going 825 mph?
I wonder if it was my old Herb Alpert record?
I thought my buddy Leroy took it.
Whipped Cream And Other Delights
He was in love with the lady on the album cover.
Go speedbird!
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