I hope I convey my point probably, but why do planes go so many thousands of feet in the air? Is it faster that way, or could they achieve similar flight times at a lower altitude?
Does it have something to do with the curvature of the earth?
In: Engineering
Typical cruise numbers:
0.84 Mach at 31000 feet is 314 knots (361 mph) indicated airspeed.
That’s about 623 mph over the ground / true airspeed.
If that same plane were flying at sea level it would be covering ground about half as fast.
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