SOLUTION: A transcontinental supersonic plane flies the 3,510 miles from New York to London in 2 hrs and 36 minutes. If the plane had an average air speed of 1,200 mi/he, determine the avera

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Question 1137002: A transcontinental supersonic plane flies the 3,510 miles from New York to London in 2 hrs and 36 minutes. If the plane had an average air speed of 1,200 mi/he, determine the average wind speed and state whether it was a head wind or a tailwind
Found 2 solutions by ikleyn, Alan3354:
Answer by ikleyn(52847) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
.

The "distance" equation is


3510 = (x + 1200)*236%2F60,   or, equivalently


3510 = (x + 1200)*2.6                  (2.6 = 2.6 hours = 2 hours and 36 minutes)


Hence,


    x = 3510%2F2.6+-+1200 = 150 miles per hour.


Thus the wind speed is 150 miles per hour. It is tailwind.     ANSWER 


I solved the problem formally, but I do not think that in reality such a flight would be allowed:  150 mph is a hurricane speed.



Answer by Alan3354(69443) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
A transcontinental supersonic plane flies the 3,510 miles from New York to London in 2 hrs and 36 minutes. If the plane had an average air speed of 1,200 mi/he, determine the average wind speed and state whether it was a head wind or a tailwind
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The plane's groundspeed in mi/hr - 3510/2.6 =~ 1350 km/hr
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1350 - 1200 = 150 mi/hr
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150 mi/hr is ~ 130 knots.
Not unreasonable for the jet stream, which is generally from west to east.
It's a ~9 hour flight from Houston to London, and ~10 hours returning.
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PS The Boeing SST would have put the Concorde out of business, if the problem of "sonic booms" over the lower 48 could have been solved.
But, that might be similar to solving the problem of time only moving in one direction.