『Riding the Jet Streak』のカバーアート

Riding the Jet Streak

Riding the Jet Streak

無料で聴く

ポッドキャストの詳細を見る

概要

 When passengers boarded a British Airways flight from New York to London on February 8, 2020, they had no idea they were about to make history. Once their 747 reached cruising altitude, the pilots directed the plane into a jet streak, a fast-moving current of air that sometimes occurs in winter. The streak rocketed the plane to a ground speed of 825 miles an hour, cutting travel time by 25 percent and setting a record for subsonic aircraft making the trip. The surprised passengers arrived in London in less than 5 hours—an hour and 40 minutes ahead of schedule. One hundred EarthDate episodes ago we talked about the jet stream, the west-to-east currents of air that circle the globe. It’s common in winter for the Northern Polar Jet to drift southward into what pilots call the North Atlantic Tracks, the routes they fly from the U.S. to Europe. When other factors, like a storm system, increase its velocity, the jet stream can create jet streaks—rivers of wind more than twice as fast, at up to 250 miles an hour, like the one that carried that February 2020 flight. Faster trips like these save time and fuel and reduce exposure to cosmic radiation for passengers and crew, which happens on any flight. So, if you’re looking for a quick, efficient, safe trip to Europe—and your own chance to land in the record books—plan one for a stormy winter night… but don’t plan to sleep!
まだレビューはありません