If cars lose significant power at high altitudes, how are ICE-powered planes overcoming this challenge?

Question

If cars lose significant power at high altitudes, how are ICE-powered planes overcoming this challenge?

In: Technology

Answer 1

Planes with piston engines without a form of turbo or supercharging typically can’t fly above 10k ft, whereas just adding a supercharger can make that same engine go up to almost 25k ft.

With a purposefully designed turbine engine, though, commercial aircraft can quite easily fly at 42k ft because of adaptations to low air pressure.