Virgin Atlantic flight smashes sound barrier!...

One of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic flight set a new ground speed record for a Boeing 787-9 while over Pennsylvania yesterday...

Quote:

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The typical cruising speed for a plane of this size is only around 560 mph, which is a long way off of the speed of sound’s 767 mph (although the speed of sound does vary based on altitude, air temperature, pressure, and on and on, and that 767 mph figure is based on a reading at sea level under standard conditions).And that’s exactly why there was no sonic boom for this 801 mph flight.

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Passengers aboard got a bonus they can brag about to their friends...:cheer:...Ben

I saw that. Just incredible. The fastest I know I have been is 689 mph verified by GPS. We also had a tail wind, but not like the one you posted about. That's moving.

Some of the airlines have information displays during flights (mostly international flights) which show both tail wind and head wind speeds. Especially in the winter I was often amazed at those velocities. I recall a discussion I had a number of years ago when my SIL was still flying B-52s and he was surprised by what I was observing since he had not experienced them, a phenomenon as I recall we credited to the difference in normal altitudes between the two.

I will have to bring this up to him again since he is now flying wide bodies internationally.

As an aside, since I flew NA to Europe more than NA to Asia I commonly got the benefit of reduced flight time on the way over. On the way back when I would much more have appreciated the boast---I had the opposite with extended flight times.