How fast do airplanes fly?

Question

Also, I know there are certain no fly zones... Is the presidents ranch one of them?

Answer 1

Depends on the plane.

Smaller general aviation aircraft usually top out at anywhere from 80-175 mph. A standard Cessna 172 cruises at 120-125 knots, which would be 140-150 mph.

Note that a poster below me, owner_of_a_lonely_CA, incorrectly calls me out on this as being wrong, and points us to a second-hand website with less reliable information that pertains to the much older Cessna 172 models (as evidenced by the engine specification, listed as an O-320; all 172's made in the last 10+ years are IO-320 (fuel injected) and are widely used in flight training operations). If one is to look at Cessna's ACTUAL website and get the typical cruising speed for this airplane from there... which is the only official source... one would see relevant cruising speeds listed at 123 kts and 122 kts. The slightly more powerful model, the 172S, cruises at up to 126 kts. See for yourself here...

http://skyhawk.cessna.com/spec_perf.chtml

it should also be noted that I have flown 172's for many years and flight instruct in them when I'm not flying at my airline.

anyway back to my original post...



Larger commercial aircraft such as a Boeing 737 cruise at different speeds, usually measured in mach. A 737-200, for instance, which is what my airline flies, cruises most efficiently at mach .74 which can be a range of actual speeds depending on temparature and altitude. Generally... this turns into about 440 knots, or 500 mph. We used to also fly 727's which cruised at mach .82, that that was nearly 560 mph.

Some smaller corporate jets are even faster... some are up around mach .86 or .88, and they can fly as high as 45,000 feet. Our 737's are only certified up to 37,000; our 727's would reach 42,000.

Then of course there's the military aircraft which easily triple the speeds of airliners. The SR71 routinely exceeded mach 3; in fact it's been as high as 2200 mph I believe.

And beyond that, if you want to count the scramjet as an airplane, then we've sent aircraft as high as mach 6-7 (4500 mph or more).

And beyond even that... there is the space shuttle, which arguably cheats by flying in orbit but nonetheless, it moves around the earth at about 25,000 mph.

As far as no fly zones, they are anywhere that it would pose a danger to have aircraft flying overhead. There are permanent ones like the white house, some landmarks, etc... then there are temporary ones like for shuttle launches, presidential visits to other places, aerial firefighting, etc.

Answer 2

Jbone above has it mostly right. But Cessna 172 does NOT cruise at 120-125 knots. Another poster above (tlworkroon) says that "Small single engine planes usually fly around 150-180 mph average"

NOT!

See this link for Cessna 172

http://www.basair.com.au/aircraft/cessna17.shtml

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When I was taking pilot training I was very surprised at how SLOW these plane (private single engine prop planes) flew.

As for commercial jet liners (747) cruise at about 550 MPH

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747

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As for the presidents ranch - I suspect it is a no fly zone only during his stay. There was a story few months back of a stray pilot flying near the ranch that had to be escorted down.

NYC is NOT a no fly zone. There are three major airport in this area. But if a private pilot was to try to fly into this area, he would be held off indefinitely until the pilot gets tired of waiting and goes away. So no fly zone isn't the only way to keep fliers out.

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Good Luck with your research.

Don't forget to vote for the BEST ANSWER - please - whoever it may be.

FACT: You also get +3 points when you vote for BEST ANSWER

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Answer 3

Small single engine planes usually fly around 150-180 mph average.
Commercial jets usually go about 600mph.

And yes, President Bush's ranch definitely is a no-fly zone.

Answer 4

The SR71 Blackbird the super spy plane flew from LA to DC
Dulles Airport in under 2 1/2 hours at over 2000mph. Of course at 60000 feet you don't find police. Commercial Liners
around 500-600 and no higher than 35-37000 feet either.

Goto your local airport and ask a Commercial Pilot they are a delight to talk too. But make sure he realizes that you are not a TERRORIST

Answer 5

That's kind of like asking how fast cars drive. There are many different kinds of airplanes, all with different performance. Some light aircraft can barely break 80 mph, while some very high performance military planes can fly more like 1800 mph.

Answer 6

Commercial airplanes don't usually fly at their maximum speed, but the 747's top speed is 702 mph.

Answer 7

Commerical plane max speed is around 0.87 Mach.
A-12, YF-12, SR-71 and the B-70 could do just over Mach Three.

Answer 8

particular. whether it relies upon on the plane and the bullet. Your properly-known civilian plane won't be able to fly as quickly as a bullet. whether maximum defense force warring parties can fly speedier than a minimum of a few bullets. The quickest planes can outrun very practically any bullet.

Answer 9

aircraft speeds have varied from a low of about 12mph or so( the first wright flyer) to mach 6.7(the X-15). most commercial aircraft cruise at around 550kts tas. and most single engine civil aviation aircraft rarely exceed 130kts tas. most homebuilts have top speeds below 100kts tas.

Answer 10

it really depends what aircraft your talking about 737s ussaly go about 450 or so and 747 can go up to 530mph some fighters go about 2000 and so about the restricted areas his ranch isnt ristricted as far as i no but the white house is.

hope this helps you