Each time I board a plane and get ready for
yet another unbearable 7-hour trans-Atlantic flight, the same thought goes through my mind:
why can’t planes be faster? Everything else is speeding up: smartphones,
the Internet, the pace of life in general! So when are we going to get a superfast passenger
jet that can cross continents in the time it takes to watch just one inflight movie
versus several? Speed has always interested engineers and
pilots. At least at first, they were pretty good at
getting these metal birds to fly faster and faster. As long ago as in 1945, a German test pilot
reached a speed of 610 mph. But then, something happened and speed stopped
growing. In fact, it’s slowing down! Any guesses why? I’ll give you a hint: ever ridden a bike
going downhill? Sure, normally riding a bike is as easy as…well,
riding a bike! But once the speed starts going up, it gets
harder and harder to control those handlebars, eh? With planes, the same thing was happening. Only, you don’t have the surface of a road
or sidewalk trying to push the front wheel this or that way. Nope, it’s all air! Wait, how can air cause problems with controlling
a plane? It’s just…air! Don’t forget that there’s also this thing
called aerodynamics. That’s a fancy word for the movement of
air around an object. If you’ve ever stuck your hand out the car
window, then you know how much force air can have. You don’t feel anything if the car isn’t
going that fast. But once it starts zooming up to highway speeds,
the air that hits your hand feels very solid indeed, especially if you lift your flat palm
up a bit to create more surface area to act on. That force can be so strong that it’s hard
to lower your hand back down, which serves as a reminder to keep all your body parts
inside a moving vehicle! Now, I’m gonna assume any car you’ve ever
been in goes on the low end of subsonic speeds. That is, lower than the speed of sound, or
about 767 mph. Speed, like light, also takes time to get
somewhere…it just does it incredibly fast so that it seems like it’s instantaneous. That’s why things get really interesting
when we talk about supersonic planes, a.k.a. the ones that go above the speed of sound. Yes, there are supersonic aircraft, and they
can be especially hard to control. Just imagine the aerodynamics of a plane flying
faster than 767 mph. Air particles, which used to move around the
plane in a kind of circle, now can’t keep up the pace. They get squished together and form a sort
of barrier. Have you ever heard someone talking about
a plane breaking the sound barrier? That’s exactly what I’m talking about. When aircraft manage to smash through that
wall of highly compressed air, it forms an explosive sound called a sonic boom. If you’re in the plane at the moment, you
won’t hear it because you’re flying faster than sound does! But if you’re standing on the ground below,
oh, you’ll hear it alright! Planes usually reach supersonic speeds far
from city airports so that they don’t scare the wits out of unsuspecting people. Flying at supersonic speeds against all that
pressure from the air in front of you is like trying to run through a crowd. You’re exerting force on the people in front
of you (which is quite rude, please don’t run through crowds). But you’re also getting pushed back, both
in the front and on the sides from pushing through all those bodies. With planes, that force around the aircraft
makes it less controllable. Not only can the whole thing start shaking
but temperatures in front of the plane can also heat up to 570°F. That much heat and
pressure can actually rip a plane apart! That’s why a typical subsonic plane can’t
fly in supercruise mode for long distances. It’ll simply lose control and break into
pieces. Still, there was a case in 1985 when a Boeing
747 survived a fall at supersonic speed. It was a China Airlines flight from Taiwan
to Los Angeles. About 350 miles outside of San Francisco,
one of the engines completely failed. One minute later, the plane took a nosedive
from an altitude of 41,000 ft. Just imagine, you’re on a flight when the
plane starts going down headfirst. You’re now perpendicular to the ground and
falling toward it at supersonic speeds! I hope you’re buckled in because the g-forces
will send you up and slamming into the back of the cabin. But get this: the pilots managed to level
it off at just 9,500 ft. (FYI, that’s “the nick of time” when it comes to aviation.) The plane landed in San Francisco with everyone
onboard alive! Phew, talk about quick thinking and incredible
piloting skills! But what about planes actually meant to fly
faster than sound? First up, they usually look different from
the planes you’re used to seeing at the airport. They have sharp edges and straight lines – unlike
the softer contours in subsonic planes. They also have arrow-shaped or triangular
wings. All these features allow them to fly faster
and deal with the intense aerodynamics that comes with it. Supersonics were invented for and are still
mainly produced in military aviation. But there were 2 jets used for commercial
flights too: the British-French Concorde and the Soviet Tupolev TU-144. These bad boys could reach speeds of about
1,550 mph at a height of 60,000 ft. They flew two times higher than regular commercial
jets fly since the air gets less dense. Thinner air at higher altitudes means less
friction to fight against, which equals easier controllability. The fate of TU-144 was dramatic and short-lived. It was only used for 3 years from 1975 to
1978 with just the last 6 months being commercial. But after 2 crashes, they pulled the plug
on this supersonic project. Concorde was in service for much longer, from
1976 until 2003. For 27 years, this flying beast could get
passengers from London to New York in a mere 3 hours. In case you’re wondering, that trip usually
takes 7! Trust me, I count each and every hour… So why can’t we go back to the good ol’
days? Well, if money talks, then it was screaming
“Not worth it!” when it came to this project. It was way too expensive, in both production
and operation. That made it inefficient to the point of not
being worth it, at least for passenger flights. Concorde burned through 5,600 gallons of fuel
per hour, while a Boeing 747 uses 4,600 in that time. Not a huge difference and you’re flying
fewer hours in a Concorde, so it’s worth it, right? If only! The supersonic beast only held 100 passengers
– a 747 can carry up to 5 times more! And if you’re thinking, “Who cares? I’ll pay anything to get across the ocean
faster!” – by today’s rates, you’d be shoveling over $10,000 roundtrip! On top of that, when Concorde started flying
across the Atlantic in the ‘70s, the 1st-class cabins did have bigger seats than economy,
but they still weren’t very comfortable. So, in short, most people are willing to pay
much less for a 1st-class seat that folds back into a bed so that they can sleep for
7 hours, versus blowing a bunch of money to save 4 hours. Thus, by the early 2000s, Concorde was no
longer in demand. The program was just too costly, so they shut
it down. And that’s why we no longer have the option
of taking a supersonic jet to get to our destination a lot faster! And that’s probably for the best. Aviation engineers have worked out ideal shapes
of planes and the most efficient speed. The takeaway? Faster doesn’t always mean better! You see, a flight isn’t just about gliding
on the air – you also have to consider take-off and landing. Those two situations can be extremely dangerous
at high speeds, so pilots (and everyone onboard) are better off taking it slow. Taking the speed down a bit is also more comfortable
for passengers since the ride is less noisy. Again, a quiet 7 hours that you can just spend
sleeping might be more tolerable than a brain-racking 3 hours where a quick catnap is out of the
question! Another reason is in engines and fuel economy. The faster the plane is flying, the more the
engines have to work. If the engines are constantly on full-blast,
they don’t last as long and need to be replaced or repaired more often. Not to mention, they burn more fuel, which
drives up ticket prices and lowers demand. After all these years of experimentation,
aviation engineers have found the ideal speed of flight: 560 mph. But, hey, perhaps that’s just temporary! Engineers keep looking for new innovative
ways to combine supersonic speed with controllability and safety in passenger planes. One day, the best scientific minds will think
up something to make planes faster, comfortable, and affordable! Win, win, win – just how I like it! Would you rather pay more to save time or
does every dollar count in your book? Whether it’s about plane tickets or anything
else, let me know your philosophy down in the comments! If you learned something new today, then give
this video a like and share it with a friend. But don’t go blasting away at supersonic
speeds just yet! We have over 2,000 cool videos for you to
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enjoy! Stay on the Bright Side of life!
