Ground Speed


Ground Speed.


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As you can see from the explanation above, if a plane were flying at 100 mph on the ground, and if it were to become airborne and there were no winds aloft, the air speed would be the same as the ground speed.

But if the 100 mph air speed were given a boost of a great tail wind, the airplane would then be moving over the ground at a speed of 120 mph. Conversely, if flying into a 20 mph headwind, the speed at which the airplane were flying over the ground would be reduced to 80 mph.

Our airplane, a Vans RV7, cruises at about 160-180 mph. It can go faster, and especially with a strong tail wind. Once when we were crossing Snoqualmie Pass, I looked at the Air Speed Indicator and discovered we were flying 212 MPH!

Both pictures below were taken by me, of our friend Steve, who built a RV6. We were crossing Snoqualmie Pass, enroute to the Arlington, WA, airshow.



The pictures were taken mid-July of 2009.




Comments

  1. A Tarkabarka HölgyApril 8, 2014 at 5:51 AM

    Interesting! Also, gorgeous pictures! :) I love looking at landscapes from a plane. Also, clouds :)
    Thanks for stopping by! Cheers!

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Tales of colors
    MopDog - The crazy thing about Hungarians...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sharon HimslApril 8, 2014 at 9:33 AM

    BEAUTIFUL PICTURES of RV7!!! Thanks too for the lesson on air speed.
    Shells–Tales–Sails

    ReplyDelete
  3. BirgitApril 8, 2014 at 11:56 AM

    That's interesting and no sure if sinking into my brain but the air moving and how it changes things-coll! Love the pics and I would be a total scaredy cat flying in a small plane

    ReplyDelete
  4. Melanie StanfordApril 8, 2014 at 12:38 PM

    Gorgeous pics! I think I went a little cross-eyed with that ground speed/air speed thing, but it would be awesome to fly in a little place like that. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kathy CombsApril 8, 2014 at 3:26 PM

    Interesting stuff! Thank you for the great explanation! ♥

    ReplyDelete
  6. Susan KaneApril 8, 2014 at 3:59 PM

    I could not/would not do this. While I am not afraid of flying or death, I would rather view God's creation from the ground.

    Over here from A to Z.

    ReplyDelete
  7. MelindaApril 8, 2014 at 6:37 PM

    Such pretty pictures!

    M : )

    ReplyDelete
  8. Patricia StolteyApril 8, 2014 at 8:55 PM

    I like to fly in big planes but find small ones more scary. It makes me feel way too tiny in a great big world. Those are beautiful photos.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Elizabeth Varadan, AuthorApril 9, 2014 at 1:44 AM

    Like Patricia, I'd find flying in a small plane a little scary. Those were beautiful pictures you took, though.

    ReplyDelete

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