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Why do they fly at that altitude? Any extra details?

2006-09-13 11:34:33 · 12 answers · asked by ★ Dee.. <다영> 2 in Cars & Transportation Aircraft

12 answers

Most passenger jets fly between around 31000 and 37000 feet depending on their weight and the distance being flown, however the smaller business jets typically operate up to 45000 feet and in the case of Concorde it went as high as 51000. At those kinds of altitudes you can see the curvature of the earth, it is quite spectacular.

The reason is that at high altitudes in thinner air jet engines work more efficiently by burning a lot less fuel and the ground speed of the aircraft is significantly higher than the airspeed the aircraft is measuring, We call what is being displayed to the pilot IAS (Indicated Airspeed) and the actual speed of the aircraft through the air TAS (True Airspeed)

For example at 30000 feet with an indicated airspeed of 275 knots the actual speed of the aircraft is 440 knots, and at 40000 it would be 495 knots.

Hope this helps

2006-09-13 14:17:03 · answer #1 · answered by PolarCeltic 4 · 3 0

1

2016-05-01 02:17:11 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0 0

Jet Cruising Altitude

2016-12-12 04:04:26 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

Most jets fly between 30,000 and 40,000 feet. There are a couple of reasons. The primary reason is efficiency. Jet aircraft engines are more fuel efficient at higher altitudes, up to a point anyway. The air is thinner at altitude so drag is lower and this helps keep fuel consumption reasonable as well. At higher altitudes they can sometimes take advantage of the jet streams, high altitude winds that can easily exceed 100 MPH which significantly increases their ground speed when it's a tail wind.

Also, birds don't fly that high so a significant hazard is avoided when it would be the most dangerous -- at high speeds.

2006-09-13 17:59:09 · answer #4 · answered by Bostonian In MO 7 · 1 0

It depends on the type of aircraft. One thing for sure is that all aircrfat (& their pilots) will try to fly as high as is safe for their airplane to fly so as to get the best fuel economy (less dense air at high altitude requires less engine effort to fly through than at lower altitudes).
Airplanes that have pressurized cabins will normally fly well above 12,000 ft, while the ones without pressurized cabins will stay well below 12,000ft so that the occupants will be able to breathe the air.
Other reasons include exploiting "Jetstrem" currents which -if blowing from behind the airplane- can shorten travel time and further reduce fuel burn. You'll also find less traffic the higher you fly (weatherwise, airplanewise and birdwise). The view is also gets more magnificent as you get higher.

2006-09-14 01:02:43 · answer #5 · answered by Fulani Filot 3 · 2 0

They fly between 18,000 and 60,000ft, depending on air traffic control.
The controllers pick the altitude for traffic purposes only.
A 747 over a congested area would fly lower than in an open area, like over the ocean, where traffic is pretty uniform.
Over the US, most airlines fly about 30,000ft, with international flights overhead.

2006-09-13 15:18:51 · answer #6 · answered by Doggzilla 6 · 0 1

maximum jets fly above twenty 8 thousand ft. by using fact at 5-6 miles extreme the air is thinner, IE. the air molecules are farther aside and that they are additionally chillier. this enables the airplane to go(push via) the air a lot simpler and for that reason employing much less gas than they might at altitudes around twelve thousand and decrease.

2016-09-30 22:23:50 · answer #7 · answered by ? 4 · 0 0

On takeoff and landing, ground level. What jets? Commercial planes cruise at whatever altitude is best for fuel consumption and winds for the distance to be traveled. Fighter/Attack from in the weeds to way-to-heck-and-gone up there depending on the mission.

2006-09-13 11:42:36 · answer #8 · answered by RANDLE W 4 · 0 1

They have a cruising altitude of around 30 000 feet

2006-09-13 11:44:42 · answer #9 · answered by Dan 5 · 0 1

The ATC gives the correspondence to the flight engineer and also coordinates at what flight level to maintain. This reason is so that no air craft will hit each each other flying in the sky.

2006-09-13 15:15:15 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

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