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Video answers: Why do planes fly so slowly?

Here are the answers to last Friday’s video, enjoy!

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. In 60s commercial aircraft began to break the sound barrier.
  2. Supersonic travel didn’t last because of the extremely loud supersonic boom and the inefficient use of afterburner engines that made them very expensive.
  3. They fly at between 900 and 930 km per hour.
  4. Nowadays modern planes are a little slower, but they’re wider, less noisy, more manoeuvrable, more comfortable, less expensive to maintain, more fuel efficient and cheaper overall.
  5. There’s no reason for them to fly faster. If they fly faster they’ll only arrive, on average, 30 minutes earlier at their destination. The downside to this is that they’ll be more expensive to operate.

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Video: Why do planes fly so slowly?

This week’s video describes why modern planes fly at their current speed and not faster.

Try to answer the following questions about the video and come back on Monday for the answers.

Suggested ICAO level for video: 5+

  1. What monumental barrier was broken by commercial aircraft in 60s?
  2. Why didn’t this breakthrough last?
  3. What speed do modern wide-body aircraft fly at?
  4. What characteristics of planes have changed since 60s?
  5. What reason is there for medium-sized planes to fly a little faster?

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Have a great weekend!

WHY DO WE FLY SO SLOWLY?

TechZone ► https://goo.gl/Gj3wZs Perhaps you’ve heard that lately planes are flying way too slow. After all, if you can launch a Tesla into space, why not make planes a little faster? Some people think that it is the fault of lazy engineers and designers who don’t want to create something better.