Can a plane fly at 60000 feet?

Answer: The highest commercial airliner altitude was 60,000 feet by Concorde. The highest military air-breathing engine airplane was the SR-71 — about 90,000 feet. The highest airliner flying today reaches 45,000 feet. The highest business jet flying today reaches 51,000 feet.

Why don t commercial jets fly higher?

Because the lowest possible speed and highest possible speeds converge. As the aircraft gets lighter (burns fuel), the minimum (safe) speed it can fly decreases, and then it can climb a little higher during a flight. The maximum speed is limited by the speed of sound, or rather, a factor of the speed of sound.

What is the normal cruising altitude for a modern passenger aircraft?

Commercial aircraft typically fly between 31,000 and 38,000 feet — about 5.9 to 7.2 miles — high and usually reach their cruising altitudes in the first 10 minutes of a flight, according to Beckman. Planes can fly much higher than this altitude, but that can present safety issues.

What is the highest altitude a commercial airplane can fly?

For most modern commercial jets today, this is around 41,000 feet. The exact level will depend mostly on the engines’ performance (it is designed to be the maximum that still allows efficient operation). Many large widebodies have a ceiling of up to around 43,000 feet (12,500 meters).

How high does Concorde fly?

General features. Concorde had an average cruise speed of Mach 2.02 (an airspeed of around 2140 km/h or 1,330 mph) with a maximum cruise altitude of 60,000 feet (18 300 metres).

How fast can Concorde fly?

1,354 mph
Concorde/Top speed

Why did Concordes nose move?

The reason the nose cone could move up and down was to help the pilots see during landing and taxiing. Because of the shape of the wing, the plane needed a high angle of approach and high speed to produce sufficient lift at the relatively low speeds used for landing and takeoff.

Can a helicopter fly across the Atlantic?

A helicopter can fly across the Atlantic – and this has been achieved several times. The first transatlantic helicopter flight took place in 1952. The first non-stop transatlantic helicopter flight took place in 1967.

What is the maximum altitude of Concorde?

Furthermore, Concorde could reach a maximum cruising altitude of 60,000 feet. The retired supersonic airliner’s turbojet engines were more efficient at a faster speed.

Why do light planes have to cruise at low altitudes?

However, many light aircraft have to cruise below 10,000 feet because they don’t have the luxury of pressurized cabins like jetliners. These also may not have sufficient insulation to endure the cold temperatures higher up.

What is the average cruising altitude of a plane?

However, travelers are more likely find themselves in the air at a cruising altitude of around 35,000 feet. Pilots often choose to fly at this level because this is the optimum height for commercial operations.

How high can commercial airliners fly?

Altogether, commercial airliners have the physical capability to travel up to 43,000 feet. However, most of the time, it is not logical to operate at this elevation. There may be revolutions in engine technology, with new supersonic flights possibly being introduced in the future.