Why is the flight back from Hawaii shorter?

Luckily, the trip home should be shorter than the flight into Hawaii. The fast-moving wind known as the jet stream blows from west to east. It gives resistance to planes moving west, making those flights longer, but it eases the way for planes moving east.

Why is my flight shorter on the way back?

The reason it took so much longer to fly back is the jet stream, a river of fast-moving air high up in the sky. Jet streams are usually about 100 miles wide. They can be thousands of miles long and are found all over the earth. To be called a jet stream, the wind must be moving faster than 60 mph.

Why are flights shorter from west to east?

Clear-air turbulence. Jet streams are, at their most basic, high-altitude air currents caused by atmospheric heating and the inertia of the earth's rotation—and they're the reason why flights from west to east are faster than the same route traversed in the opposite direction.

Why are flights shorter than they say?

The arrival and departure times airlines share with their customers often don't match how long an aircraft actually needs to spend in the air. Airlines exaggerate how long a trip will take so that even when there's a delay, the plane still arrives “on time," a strategy known as “schedule padding.”

Why are flights shorter going north?

This warm air just goes around the globe from north to south and back again. Since the globe is always rotating, the fragments closest to its axis move slower compared to those farther.

Why Planes Don't Fly Over the Pacific Ocean

Why do planes not fly over the Pacific?

Most commercial airlines, that operate between East Asia and the Americas, do not fly over the Pacific Ocean because of cost and safety concerns, including turbulent weather, which can be dangerous to fly over.

Does Earth rotation affect flight time?

In the frame of reference of the airplane, everything is stationary. Similarly, the airplane is already moving along with the surface of the Earth before it takes off. The rotation of the Earth has no direct significant effect on flight times in either direction.

Why is flying west to east faster?

Since the jet streams flow from the west to east, they make one leg of the journey much faster (when flying with the stream) and one slower (against the stream). Returning to the example from New York to London, we see flights may take even a slightly longer route to benefit from the jet stream.

Is it easier to fly east or west?

Experienced air travelers know that flying east across time zones is harder than flying west, because traveling east shortens the days while traveling west lengthens them. It means your circadian rhythm needs to do more to catch up.

Why don't we fly west to Japan?

The primary reason airplanes don't fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn't flat. Rather, it's spherical.

Why don't planes fly over the north and south Pole?

Antarctica has no flight paths due to weather conditions and no infrastructure to assist with landing anywhere on the continent.

Why is it slower to fly west?

The main reason for the difference in travel time is due to the jet stream. The jet stream is high altitude wind that blows from the west to the east across the globe. Airplanes fly into the jet stream at 30,000 feet and then travel with these winds.

What is the longest flight in the world?

Singapore Airlines Flight SQ24 from Singapore to New York is currently the longest commercial journey in the world, taking passengers more than 15,000 kilometres on Airbus A350-900s.

Can a plane outrun the sun?

This means that the Sun effectively zooms across the face of the Earth at the equator at around 1,700km/h. So you'd have to travel at least this fast to stay in daylight. But that's around 1.5 times the speed of sound – and twice as fast as a conventional passenger plane.

Why do planes fly at 35000 feet?

A balance between operating costs and fuel efficiency is achieved somewhere around 35,000 feet, which is why commercial airplanes usually fly at that altitude. Most commercial airplanes cruise at an altitude of nearly 35,000 feet—around 6.62 miles (10,600 meters) in the air!

Is jet lag worse going east or west?

Most people find that jet lag is worse when traveling east than it is when traveling west¹³. Jet lag differs based on the direction of travel because it's generally easier to delay your internal clock than advance it. Jet lag does not occur on north-south flights that do not cross multiple time zones.

Why don't we feel the Earth spinning?

Since the Earth rotates at a near-constant speed (that is, it doesn't speed up or slow down in any way noticeable to us), we simply spin with it and don't feel a thing.

Why don't we fly off the Earth?

Normally, humans aren't thrown off the moving Earth because gravity is holding us down. However, because we are rotating with the Earth, a 'centrifugal force' pushes us outwards from the centre of the planet.

Why do planes fly in circles?

Airplanes may fly in circles at the discretion of the pilot or by request from air traffic control. Most circling is to provide separation between airplanes, to hold planes when runways are temporarily obstructed, or to ensure airplanes arrive at their planned arrival times for the destination airport.

Can you fly under the Earth?

The answer is – NO, you cannot have an airplane go straight up and let the Earth pass underneath to reach your destination, unless you are willing to burn an incredibly large amount of fuel and make the journey downright uneconomical.

How fast do planes actually go?

A typical commercial passenger jet flies at a speed of about 400 – 500 knots which is around 460 – 575 mph when cruising at about 36,000ft. This is about Mach 0.75 – 0.85 or in other words, about 75-85% of the speed of sound. Generally speaking, the higher the aircraft flies, the faster it can travel.

Why do pilots say Roger?

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) officially defines the word "roger" to mean "I have received all of your transmission." For example, a pilot would say "roger" in response to an advisory from Air Traffic Control.

Do pilots sleep on long flights?

The simple answer is yes, pilots do and are allowed to sleep during flight but there are strict rules controlling this practice. Pilots would only normally sleep on long haul flights, although sleep on short haul flights is permitted to avoid the effects of fatigue.

Why don't we fly from Alaska to Russia?

Bering Strait Geography

The smaller of these granite islands is American. These islands can be used as a resting point during a crossing of the Bering Strait, however, being in the proximity of Russia's Big Diomede Island will reduce the chance of a successful crossing from Alaska to Russia.