Why does it take 5 hours to fly from NY to the West Coast?

Question

If they are separated by 3 hours (time zones), why couldn't I get in a plane that flies straight up, wait for 3 hours, and then land as the West coast approaches below me?

Answer 1

The airplane can't just go up and stop - it has to accelerate against the rotation of the Earth first to cancel out all the velocity it had from the Earth's rotation when it was "at rest" on the ground. (To stay in the same spot on a treadmil, you have to run really hard, right? Same principle)

Now why can't you make the flight in 3 hours in stead of 5? Let's take a look:

Time zones exist because the Sun is directly above different points of the Earth at different times. If the airplane flew straight up, and truly remained "in the same spot" relative to the Sun, then it would actually be travelling across the surface of the Earth, like the Sun appears to.

Using Google Earth, I found that the difference in longitude between JFK airport in New York and LAX in California is 45 degrees.

The sun crosses 15 degrees of longitude per hour (360 / 24)

That means that there litterally is 3hrs difference (almost exactly) between noon above JFK and noon above LAX.

At the latitude of JFK, it is approximately 2300 miles to travel 45 degrees of the way around the Earth. - this means that you would have to travel at 766 miles per hour to cover this distance (which ignores the north/south difference between JFK and LAX)

Note that the speed of sound is about 770 miles per hour.

So, by the time you add the distance from the difference in lattitude, you would have to travel at.... MACH 1 to cover the distance in 3 hours.

Supersonic flight over inhabited land is banned because of the extreme nuisance of sonic booms. Not only that - look how expensive the Concord was if you wanted to fly at supersonic speeds....

That's why it takes 5 hours - no sonic booms, and it's cheaper on fuel (LOTS cheaper).

Answer 2

The earth rotates at about 1000 mph (speed at the surface). An airplane travels at about half of that speed.

So, an airplane which goes straight up on the East coast and waits for the West coast to land beneath it would really be traveling at double it's normal airspeed. The engines couldn't keep up, the nose would overheat, and the wings and fuselage would be stressed to the breaking point.

It's important to remember that the airmass above the Earth's surface rotates with the Earth (actually faster, which is why flying from W to E is faster than flying from E to W).

With this in mind, if someone in outer space was locked in position and observed a plane flying from the East Coast to the West Coast, they would see the plane flying backwards! However, the Earth would be moving underneath the plane at a faster speed, so the airplane's position with respect to the ground would still be moving East to West.

Answer 3

relies upon on the Jet. properly speeds variety. maximum can fly Mach a million+ for a jiffy, some as a lot as 1/2 an hour earlier determining of gas. If the jet aerial refueled, and flew non quit coast to coast, thats about 3600m miles, at 550mph, it would take about 6.5 hours. If the jet could fly virtually always on afterburner, above the speed of sound, an F15 would nicely be able to make the vacation in about 4.5 hours. It relies upon on the jet. The SR71 Blackbird strategic reconnaissance airplane set a international record. London to l. a. 3 hours, 40 seven minutes 35.8 seconds. It did sluggish to refuel.

Answer 4

The atmosphere moves with the earth's surface at a speed that depends on the latitude. At the latitude of Baltimore, it moves about 1,000 mph from west to east.

So if you took off straight up, you would have to fly into the wind at 1,000 mph for three hours, which is not presently feasible, to remain directly above the absolute point from which you departed while the earth rotated under you.

It's not worth trying, and you would still have to have your shoes checked for explosives.

Answer 5

The time zones have nothing to do with your flight time. It depends on your airplanes speed. Usually an airplane would be faster than the speed of the sunlight but the time zones are pretty big which is why your arrive later than 3 hours.

Answer 6

well if a plane went up for 3 hour in would burn up in the atmosphere.

Answer 7

You won't understand this this but here goes: Time zones are arbitrary divisions, distance and speed traveled are not.

Answer 8

It just does ok? Go take a nap.