3 ms·
Terminal velocity depends on the object. The terminal velocity of a skydiver is around 200km/h. I'd imagine the terminal velocity of an airliner pointed straigh
by taneq 5y ago
Terminal velocity depends on the object. The terminal velocity of a skydiver is around 200km/h. I'd imagine the terminal velocity of an airliner pointed straight down would be significantly higher even without the engines running. With engines at cruising power they move 700km/h+ in horizontal flight, I'd imagine they could exceed that by a lot in a vertical dive.
- belter 5y agoNASA has this online Terminal Velocity calculator. For drag coeficient typical values for commercial large planes are in the order of 0.05. "Terminal Velocity Calculator": https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/termv.html https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/airplane/termv.html
- taneq 5y agoBest rough figure I could find for weight of a loaded 737 is around 40 tons, frontal area I'm guesstimating is roughly a 3m diameter cylinder plus ~0.5m average thickness of the 28m wingspan giving 21m^2? For which the calculator gives 262.8m/s or 943.2km/h.
- belter 5y agoNot far from current preliminary estimates. "China Plane Was Travelling At Speed Of Sound As It Slammed Into Hill": https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-jets-fatal-dive-took-it-near-speed-of-sound-before-crash-2837720 https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/china-jets-fatal-dive-took-i... "The Boeing Co. 737-800 was knifing through the air at more than 640 miles (966 kilometers) per hour, and at times may have exceeded 700 mph, according to data from Flightradar24, a website that tracks planes. "The preliminary data indicate it was near the speed of sound," said John Hansman, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology astronautics and aeronautics professor who reviewed Bloomberg's calculation of the jet's speed. "It was coming down steep.""