Posted on 02/19/2024 6:34:54 PM PST by Red Badger
Jet Set
A massive jet stream formed over the mid-Atlantic region this past weekend, with a fascinating effect: pushing certain eastbound commercial flights faster than the speed of sound.
As the Washington Post reports, one Virgin Atlantic flight reached a ground speed of 802 miles per hour — faster than the 767 mph measurement of the speed of sound — as it jetted from Washington Dulles International Airport to London's Heathrow Airport on Saturday, landing 45 minutes ahead of schedule.
All told, three commercial jetliners were swept up by the fearsome jet stream, which clocked in at a blistering 265 mph compared to the average jet stream speed of around 110 mph.
Because the Virgin Atlantic flight and two others like it, including one from Newark Airport in New Jersey to Lisbon, Portugal that reached a ground speed of 835 mph, were within the jet stream's flow, they didn't break the sound barrier, WaPo points out.
Important to note: though they were traveling over the speed of sound relative to the ground, the planes didn't actually break the sound barrier, since they weren't moving 767 mph faster than the air around them.
Weather Watchers
This jet stream occurred, as the report indicates, as a result of super-cold temperatures in the Northeast and much warmer air to the South. In Maine, for instance, temperatures bottomed out in the single digits on Saturday at 7 PM, whereas South Florida experienced a balmy mid-70s that same evening.
This crosswind effect also, WaPo points out, seemed to sweep away a lot of the snow expected to hit the DC area from the weather system that blanketed states to its north twice in one week.
In a post on X-formerly-Twitter, the National Weather Service's Baltimore-Washington update account said that the winds were the second-highest ever observed since records began being kept in the mid-20th century.
"For those flying eastbound in this jet," the NWS account warned, "there will be quite a tail wind."
Though there haven't been reports yet about any problems experienced by flights flying west during this eastern slipstream, common aviation knowledge dictates that flying against jet streams can result in longer flight times, increased fuel consumption, and turbulence.
Indeed, as one weather Twitter participant pointed out, the jet stream may not have been celebratory for everyone.
"Great for flight if it’s at your tail," meteorologist Lisa Green tweeted. "Not so great, otherwise!"
Aviation Ping!!.....................
“WHO NEEDS A CONCORDE?”
Perhaps those going in the opposite direction?
The westbound planes are still in flight
Did passengers end up a few seconds younger than relatives waiting at the airport due to Einstein’s theories?
They weren’t going the speed of light.....................
No, but they saw dinosaurs in New York and the 1939 World’s Fair.
LOL
One of my most prized possessions is my Mach 2 pin. We had to run our F-4’s out to max speed after an aircraft underwent major repairs.
I was too busy squeezing my cheeks to check our ground speed. Long story.
>>>>I was too busy squeezing my cheeks...<<<<
Which ones?........................😜
Wow.
Must have been on a journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination.🪐⏰⏳🛸
Hahahahaha...thanks for your service, FRiend...loved them Phantoms!
RAW SMOKY POWER AND NOISE!
Obviously the jet stream was extra fast because of global warming.
Which means that global warming saves fossil fuel.
RE: They weren’t going the speed of light.
I did not say so or imply that. Approaching , though....
“Special relativistic time dilation. The faster the relative velocity, the greater the time dilation between one another, with time slowing to a stop as one approaches the speed of light.”
Plus, it’s humor so I get to say things Mulder would say and Scully would scorn.
Did they see dinosaurs and the world’s fair ?
I’ve read the actress who played Scully is like that in real life..................
The west bound flights will soon be landing in the city they took off from as they were blown back to where they started.
(A Mighty Wind)
This is Spinal Tap
“On August 21, 1961, a DC-8 broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.012 (660 mph/1,062 km/h) while in a controlled dive through 41,000 feet (12,497 m) and maintained that speed for 16 seconds. “
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_DC-8#cite_ref-29
Truly acting when two people who didn’t get along and actually had feuds could act with such chemistry bonding between them.
I never saw even one episode until a month ago and I am now catching up decades too late.
Worse trouble was on one of my favorite shows Criminal Minds in which the Hotch actor (Thomas Gibson) had anger outbursts including a fistfight during filming. Was suspended and ordered to anger management, then returned then kicked out by the bosses. Too bad.
And Mark Harmon argued with Pauley Perrette and disliked her so much he fired her. Big loss for the fans of NCIS.
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