Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by chromas on Tuesday February 11 2020, @04:32AM   Printer-friendly
from the 555 dept.

British Airways 747 just set subsonic speed record for Atlantic crossing:

Here's a good piece of trivia for you: what's the fastest commercial airliner in operation? As of Sunday, the answer might be "the Boeing 747"—not bad for an airliner that first entered service 50 years ago. On Saturday evening at 6:47pm ET, British Airways 747-400, tail number G-CIVP, took off from John F Kennedy (JFK) airport in New York. It landed at London's Heathrow Airport (LHR) at 4:43am local time—a crossing time of just 4 hours and 56 minutes, and a new record for subsonic aircraft.

Of course, the venerable jumbo had some help. Neither Boeing nor BA have rolled out a surprise engine upgrade, but Storm Ciara[*]—a weather disturbance currently rearranging British landscapes—gave the plane a helping hand with 200mph+ (320km/h+) tailwinds. G-CIVP set a peak ground speed of 825mph (1,327km/h), although its peak airspeed remained subsonic at around Mach 0.85.

That's a huge improvement over the prior record for a commercial, non-supersonic aircraft of 5 hours and 3 minutes!

The all-time record for any aircraft was managed in comfortably under 2 hours!

I was actually quite surprised to learn they were still in use as passenger aircraft. I'd taken a vacation 40 some-odd years ago to a Caribbean Island. I don't recall what the exact model plane it was that brought me there. But I do recall that all two dozen or so of us who were returning on a red-eye at the end of the week found ourselves as the sole passengers on a 747! Never mind trying to catch a nap with your seat in the reclined position... We just tipped up all the armrests in a center row of five seats and had plenty of space to sprawl out and sleep! If you ever get a chance to fly one before they are all retired, highly recommended to add to one's "bucket list."

*Ciara; pronuounced /ˈkɪərə/ KEER-ə


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by fadrian on Tuesday February 11 2020, @05:59AM (3 children)

    by fadrian (3194) on Tuesday February 11 2020, @05:59AM (#956746) Homepage

    Is this really a good thing? If the jet stream is increasing in speed, when does it move fast enough that east to west air travel in the Northern Hemisphere becomes impossible?

    --
    That is all.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 3, Touché) by khallow on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:22AM (1 child)

    by khallow (3766) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:22AM (#956758) Journal
    The jet stream is a jet, that is, a relatively narrow stream of air. It's already well past the point where east to west traffic would fly in it.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:54AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:54AM (#956768)

      The jet stream is a jet, that is, a relatively narrow stream of air. It's already well past the point where east to west traffic would fly in it.

      And a 747 is a jet too! You're not making any sense at all [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 0, Offtopic) by Barenflimski on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:41AM

    by Barenflimski (6836) on Tuesday February 11 2020, @06:41AM (#956764)

    When East to West travel becomes impossible you go east. Until then the entire norther hemisphere will shake under a never ending sonic boom under a super-sonic jet stream.

    I found these links.
    "Booming from God" - Jerusalem Post [jpost.com]
    "The Almight Wind" - Israeli Daily [timesofisrael.com]
    "Another Safe Flight" - Boeing News [boeing.com]