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Ground Speeds of Airliners in Jetstreams

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We have a thumping jetstream here atm, and looking at flights in Flightradar24 is quite interesting.  

 

There is one NZ Boeing 787 flight PER-AKL that just flew right overhead doing over 610kts / 700mph Groundspeed  at 41,000ft. She was hauling &@($* to say the least, visually looked to be going faster than aircraft inbound to Tullamarine descending through the low FL100's at 300kts or so.  Faster than Mach 1 groundspeed at altitude if there was no wind affecting airspeed. I find stats like this quite fascinating. At the other end of the scale, I've seen westbound aircraft near Perth on FR24 doing less than 300kts at cruising altitude. Be interesting to see this from the ground. 

 

Share your observations and stories of overflying aircraft or being onboard one in jetstream conditions and how it affected travel times. 

 

This particular aircraft is due in Auckland some 70 mins ahead of schedule! 

 

nz2_zpsfuizjy4p.jpg

 

nz1_zpsxmbwm5ut.jpg

 

 

 

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That is awesome! Lufthansa 777F 692 knots = 1281km/h, faster groundspeed than the speed of sound at sea level. Awesome. Must've been one hell of a jetstream. Wonder what GS aircraft going in the opposite direction registered? 

 

Great link, cheers! 

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I routinely see ground speeds of nearly 600kt while eastbound over North America in the winter.  During the winter season the Jetstream may go nearly as far south as the US/Mexico border and winds are in excess of 120kts at FL300+.

 

DJ

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http://www.groundspeedrecords.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=437&Itemid=1760

 

752 kts seems to take the cake as far as I can find on non military subsonic aircraft.


Jonathan "FRAG" Bleeker

Formerly known here as "Narutokun"

 

If I speak for my company without permission the boss will nail me down. So unless otherwise specified...Im just a regular simmer who expresses his personal opinion

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752 knots, that is one insane jetstream! Nearly 1400km/h, as far as groundspeed is concerned, well and truly supersonic, as fast as a bullet. Amazing. Be interesting to see how slow aircraft in the opposite direction were travelling. Both extremes would've been a unique sight from the ground. 

 

Something unusual, just now a flight from Sydney to Perth has diverted to Karlgoorlie. Fuel issues due to headwinds?

 

tt%20diversion_zpsaczjxjay.jpg

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I find it more impressive in cases of small GA aircraft, for example the record ground speed of a Cirrus SR22 Turbo is around 370 kts - almost twice (!!) it's normal speed. 

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I well remember visitng the Distress and Diversion Cell when it was in West Drayton, W.London. There was a pan call from an aircraft in the North that was lost. They quickly triangulated his position and determined that he was actually flying backwards.

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OK that must rate as an aviation classic... :)

 

The B744 is regularly the quickest of the airliners, and with the jetstream at your back, you feel as if you are Really Flying!

 

Over the Southern Atlantic run the W->E is 15 - 20% faster than E->W.

That's 2 hours on the trip.

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Fascinating stuff, but do we need posts that refer to "supersonic" or "Mach1" speeds when they are nothing of the sort. Come on folks this is an aviation forum, not a tabloid newspaper.

 

We expect this of the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2903168/British-Airways-flight-hits-powerhouse-jet-stream-New-York-London-reaching-near-supersonic-speeds-745mph.html

 

But using such analogy is no diferent to me saying I can run faster than Usain Bolt, If I am allowed to use the central aisle of the Eurotunnel Train, my personal best is 186 mph !


Peter Schluter

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Fascinating stuff, but do we need posts that refer to "supersonic" or "Mach1" speeds when they are nothing of the sort. Come on folks this is an aviation forum, not a tabloid newspaper.

 

We expect this of the Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2903168/British-Airways-flight-hits-powerhouse-jet-stream-New-York-London-reaching-near-supersonic-speeds-745mph.html

 

But using such analogy is no diferent to me saying I can run faster than Usain Bolt, If I am allowed to use the central aisle of the Eurotunnel Train, my personal best is 186 mph !

 

Yes we all know it's not supersonic when we consider airspeed, that's common knowledge. I'm trying to point out the movement of the aircraft relative to the ground.  If there was 0 wind, those ground speeds would be supersonic.

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