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
The air gets thinner as you go higher
Less air means less air resistance or drag, so airplanes can both go faster and they use less fuel. So 20,000 > !~~30,000 ft~~ 43,000 ft is a common cruising altitude.
However to travel that high you need to be able to go at a certain minimum speed, and your aircraft has to be pressurized so that passengers can breath.
Modern jet airliners have no problems with this, but smaller propeller driven aircraft often have to fly lower, around 10,000ft otherwise the passengers and crew can’t breath.
Jet fighters and other specialized aircraft are able to go even higher. The SR-71 for example could travel at 85,000ft and well past mach 3.
EDIT: As usids99 pointed out higher altitudes also mean better weather and less turbulence. You are for the most part flying above the clouds.
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