Originally Posted by
hans brinker
V2 speed on just my narrow body will vary from about 120kts to 160kts depending on weight. Don't have a clue for anybody else, so saying "184" for a "typical" speed suggests a level of significance that is totally inappropriate.
I'm afraid this is just another case of innumeracy.
The reporter read "160kts" and maybe knew what that was and decided to convert it to 'reader familiar' units, or more likely didn't know what "160kts" was, converted it for their own edification. They put "160kts as mph" into Google's search box, and they were told "184.124712 miles per hour". They were numerate enough to put that as "184mph", but not numerate enough to ask themselves whether "160kts" is intended to be an exact measurement, and if not whether "185mph" or even "180mph" would be suitable.
You see the same sort of thing even in reputable industry magazines nowadays: for example an aircraft's range is quoted as "7,500nm (13890km)" which is arithmetically accurate but completely bonkers - anybody who thinks a long-range aircraft has its range estimated to +/- 10km shouldn't be reporting on aviation.
Folks, even "aviation journalists", don't understand numbers and trust Google far too much.