Can someone explain this to me?

[EnigmaO01]

It's between 700 and 800 miles from Detroit to Boston via a vehicle on the road. I just flew that in a jet aircraft that flew, I believe 637 mph -- in I presume a straight line -- allowing for the curvature of the earth at 30,000 feet. Why does it take 2 hours to get from Detroit to Boston in an aircraft that is going 637 mph when it can't be more than about 700 to 800 miles flying? Yes I realize it has to accelerate and de-accelerate. But the math makes no sense to me.

???

 

[PirateMk1]

It's between 700 and 800 miles from Detroit to Boston via a vehicle on the road. I just flew that in a jet aircraft that flew, I believe 637 mph -- in I presume a straight line -- allowing for the curvature of the earth at 30,000 feet. Why does it take 2 hours to get from Detroit to Boston in an aircraft that is going 637 mph when it can't be more than about 700 to 800 miles flying? Yes I realize it has to accelerate and de-accelerate. But the math makes no sense to me.

???

You have to take off and land and you have the take off pattern and landing pattern to contend with. Also aircraft don't quite fly in straight lines they follow a virtual highway if you will. All that adds small bits of time to the flight. The time all adds up.

 

[EnigmaO01]

You have to take off and land and you have the take off pattern and landing pattern to contend with. Also aircraft don't quite fly in straight lines they follow a virtual highway if you will. All that adds small bits of time to the flight. The time all adds up.

But it increases in flight time a full 50 percent more? Didn't seem like take off and landing took very much time.

What your saying is the above things will take half the time of the flight?

 

[Taylor]

Flights from Detroit to Boston are typically in the air for only 84 minutes. When you consider that it takes about 25-30 minutes both to reach cruising altitude and to decend, roughly 2/3 of the flight is spent at speeds much less than what the airplane is capable of doing at altitude.

 

[PirateMk1]

But it increases in flight time a full 50 percent more? Didn't seem like take off and landing took very much time.

What your saying is the above things will take half the time of the flight?

The actual take off and landing by themselves would not take much time. You have to remember that plane you are on is not the only one in the sky or taking off or landing or using airspace. Your plane enters a pattern to land at the end of its trip and goes into a flight corridor set by the flight plan and ATAC at the beginning.

Short answer. Yes. For short flights those procedures could take up a majority of the flight.

 

[ecofarm]

Other factors aside (noted already herein),

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pythagorean_theorem

I doubt a plane gains 30k ft. alt. in 30k ft distance from start. That would be achieving cruising alt. in 6 miles.

 

[Slingshot Bob]

Is this a flat earth question?

Or am I totally off the mark here?

 

[beefheart]

Flight times are calculated from push back from the gate to arriving to the gate. As for a straight line, well, you get vectored onto an existing path, when you are ready to land, you are not going that fast, plus, you don't always come straight in, you may have to turn or go around to the correct runway. Your plane is not going 600 plus mph the whole flight.

 

[Utility Man]

https://www.flightradar24.com/data/flights/nk110/#dc3ed1c

 

[EnigmaO01]

Is this a flat earth question?

Or am I totally off the mark here?

No it is not a flat earth question. LOL

 

[EnigmaO01]

Thank you all for your responses.