Why do commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet?
In: 13
Its where most planes find the right balance of efficiency. If they where lower, more air sucked in the engines for thrust but more air resistance over the entire plane. Higher = less air resistance but the planes need to fly faster and less efficient just to keep enough air over the wings to stay up.
The higher you go the thinner the air, this means lower resistance and you can go faster using less fuel
however thinner air also means less air, and this means less air for the engines and less air for the wings to work, so you also can’t go too high
1. Fuel efficiency, thin air means less drag. They can’t go too high or the engines can get enough oxygen from the thin air to burn as fuel.
2. Flying in the stratosphere (atmospheric layer) which starts at about 33000 feet in temperate latitudes, means flying above most weather which is in the lowest layer called the troposphere. That reduces turbulence at cruising altitude.
It’s kind of the sweet spot between getting enough air to react with fuel in the engines and reducing drag.
Air gets thinner as you go higher. Too high and your engines work inefficiently or not at all due to lack of oxygen. Too low and you’re fighting more air resistance than you need to. 35k feet or so is the goldilocks zone – just right for cruising altitude.
It also happens to be high enough to avoid most weather, so you only have to deal with turbulence/bad weather on approach/landing/takeoff.
Why do commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet?
In: 13
Higher you go, the less thick the air is.
Less thick the air, the less resistance there is (drag).
The less resistance there is, the less thrust(engine power) you need to move at speeds.
The less engine power you need, the less fuel you need to burn to get that power.
The less fuel you need, the cheaper it is for that flight.
Its where most planes find the right balance of efficiency. If they where lower, more air sucked in the engines for thrust but more air resistance over the entire plane. Higher = less air resistance but the planes need to fly faster and less efficient just to keep enough air over the wings to stay up.
The higher you go the thinner the air, this means lower resistance and you can go faster using less fuel
however thinner air also means less air, and this means less air for the engines and less air for the wings to work, so you also can’t go too high
1. Fuel efficiency, thin air means less drag. They can’t go too high or the engines can get enough oxygen from the thin air to burn as fuel.
2. Flying in the stratosphere (atmospheric layer) which starts at about 33000 feet in temperate latitudes, means flying above most weather which is in the lowest layer called the troposphere. That reduces turbulence at cruising altitude.
It’s kind of the sweet spot between getting enough air to react with fuel in the engines and reducing drag.
Air gets thinner as you go higher. Too high and your engines work inefficiently or not at all due to lack of oxygen. Too low and you’re fighting more air resistance than you need to. 35k feet or so is the goldilocks zone – just right for cruising altitude.
It also happens to be high enough to avoid most weather, so you only have to deal with turbulence/bad weather on approach/landing/takeoff.
Higher you go, the less thick the air is.
Less thick the air, the less resistance there is (drag).
The less resistance there is, the less thrust(engine power) you need to move at speeds.
The less engine power you need, the less fuel you need to burn to get that power.
The less fuel you need, the cheaper it is for that flight.