Why do commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet?

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Why do commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet?

In: 13

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Another couple reasons not mentioned:

You have to share the air space. You don’t want commercial jets going commercial jet speeds at the same altitude as planes only capable of 100 to 200 mph.

You also have jet streams that planes use to get a speed boost. Those are usually 6 to 9 miles high, so 35,000 is a good middle altitude.

Altitude is also options. If you fly too low, you have less time to react to emergencies. Also, the higher you go the more time you can glide and the greater distance you can cover.

Anonymous 0 Comments

1:fuel efficiency, at those altitudes due ot how thin the atmosphere is you also experience less drag, letting you fly faster for less effort but still in range that the engines collect enough oxygen to work.

2:at those altitudes you are effectively above any weather patterns that could endanger the plane.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The higher you go, the thinner the air is, and that gives a few advantages. Assuming you fly at an altitude where your engines can create enough power:

Thin air causes less drag.

Less drag means you can fly faster for a similar amount of fuel.

Less fuel costs less money.

Faster speed means happy customers and more flights you can fly during a given time period.

The jetliner that does 550mph over the ground at say 30,000 feet, can’t fly nearly that fast at say 5,000 feet, even if it uses way more power trying to do so. So higher= faster and less expensive.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

0 views

Why do commercial planes fly at 35,000 feet?

In: 13

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Another couple reasons not mentioned:

You have to share the air space. You don’t want commercial jets going commercial jet speeds at the same altitude as planes only capable of 100 to 200 mph.

You also have jet streams that planes use to get a speed boost. Those are usually 6 to 9 miles high, so 35,000 is a good middle altitude.

Altitude is also options. If you fly too low, you have less time to react to emergencies. Also, the higher you go the more time you can glide and the greater distance you can cover.

Anonymous 0 Comments

1:fuel efficiency, at those altitudes due ot how thin the atmosphere is you also experience less drag, letting you fly faster for less effort but still in range that the engines collect enough oxygen to work.

2:at those altitudes you are effectively above any weather patterns that could endanger the plane.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The higher you go, the thinner the air is, and that gives a few advantages. Assuming you fly at an altitude where your engines can create enough power:

Thin air causes less drag.

Less drag means you can fly faster for a similar amount of fuel.

Less fuel costs less money.

Faster speed means happy customers and more flights you can fly during a given time period.

The jetliner that does 550mph over the ground at say 30,000 feet, can’t fly nearly that fast at say 5,000 feet, even if it uses way more power trying to do so. So higher= faster and less expensive.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

Anonymous 0 Comments

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.