my flight got delayed but the pilot said they would go faster to make up for lost time and we ended up arriving early. This got me thinking why can’t planes always go at this faster speed?
In: 7
The power required to overcome air friction increases with the cube of speed, so going 10% faster burns fuel at a 33% higher rate. You get there 10% quicker but that still means the journey required 21% more fuel.
This assumes that the engines have 33% more power available. Even if they do, they could operate less efficiently than at their normal cruising settings, causing even greater fuel costs.
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