Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787-9 Hits 801 mph Ground Speed Due to Jet Stream
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Yes, JP has very fast jet close by, but doesn't extend as far (proportionally) as the Atlantic jet-stream, I think. Sometimes see flightradar24 showing 690 - 700kts but they don't stay that speed for long and more often are in the 650 - 670kt range. With the larger distance to cover between SE Asia to America, the overall time isn't quite as dramatic as the US - UK speedway?
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Its all over the internet now. Article in Wired is a mixture of truth and hyperbole: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/jet-...nger-jet-speed
Edit: I bet Charles Lindbergh would be pleased to know that he flew at jet stream altitudes in an unpressurised aircraft, and Alcock and Brown would be rather shocked that they were not the first(*) to fly across the Atlantic.
Edit: * non-stop
This trick goes back to some of the historic flights in air travel history. The Spirit of St. Louis, the first flight taken across the atlantic, went from West to East, the direction jet streams predominantly blow.
Edit: * non-stop
Last edited by GordonR_Cape; 23rd Feb 2019 at 07:26.
Alcock and Brown knew perfectly well that they weren't the first to fly across the Atlantic.
OOH I might have been on that flight too - rings a big bell that we crossed in well under 9 hours...
As an aside-
I was on the very last Laker flight from LGW into LAX Feb 82 - They had already cut back and were in trouble, and LAX was now not a daily flight.
I was on a staff Jolly (Ł10) meeting up in LAX with my BA crew pal who had a 5 day trip and GK went bust on my second day...!
BA LAX staff were very kind and flew me home in the new Super Club on my pal's flight - on my now quite worthless staff ticket
Had a very fast WB flight on a Virgin 787 Jan 2017 LHR-MIA - we rerouted very southerly, Azores, and got there in well under 8 hours
Dunno what all the hoopla is about. Airbus has got them beat with their Hypersonic A330...Flew as SLF on an A330 a few months ago and a cruise speed of Mach 3 was in order. 


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Once again bringing up Japan - reading meteorologist reports from WWII frequently forecasting 160 - 180 knot winds at 35,000 feet over Japan and having flights measure 240 knot wind speeds. Also the report of a B-29 weather plane making a routine mission beginning in the Marianas and ending up in the Aleutians due to determining the only possible airfield at which they could land safely being up there. Now adding 240 knots to 490 knot cruise has got to be an impressive ground speed - like 840 mph.
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This "news" got really out of hand. The whole concept of groundspeed vs airspeed is just absent from all the articles I've read. Starting with a corporate pilot that said "he has never seen such speed in his whole 25yrs of experience as a commercial pilot" Well I guess that guy never encountered a jetstream before. Newspapers, pilots, and even Richard Branson got it all wrong. I cannot believe the dimension this thing got.

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The timings for last month's record-breaking Norwegian JFK-LGW flight were (all Z):
Out: 16:20
Off: 16:36
On: 21:47
In: 21:55
So the claimed 5 hrs 11 mins was from wheels-off to wheels-on.

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Once again bringing up Japan - reading meteorologist reports from WWII frequently forecasting 160 - 180 knot winds at 35,000 feet over Japan and having flights measure 240 knot wind speeds. Also the report of a B-29 weather plane making a routine mission beginning in the Marianas and ending up in the Aleutians due to determining the only possible airfield at which they could land safely being up there. Now adding 240 knots to 490 knot cruise has got to be an impressive ground speed - like 840 mph.
