How fast do cargo planes fly

Until now that is. Researchers and manufacturers have learned from the Concorde and Tu failures and are busy at work, developing sustainable technology for supersonic aircraft. The X QueSST plane short for Quiet Supersonic Technology has been designed to overcome the problem of the dangerously loud sonic boom by reaching a maximum speed of Mach 2.

The X is expected to be delivered in , for flight tests that will be conducted in It is this aircraft that is expected to bring civilian supersonic travel into the mainstream. In the meantime, the number of pilots in the U. In the s, about two-thirds of airline pilots were ex-military, but that number has dropped to less than one-third.

The problem could be solved, in part, by fast commercial airliners that can fly more passengers to their destinations in less time. Right now, the faster you fly the more fuel you burn. Last year, the longest non-stop flight in commercial aviation history took 19 hours from Singapore to Newark, New Jersey. At the same time, the aviation industry has never been more aware of the importance of reducing its carbon footprint, especially in light of recent climate change events.

The challenge of flying faster, on less fuel, has spurred several projects researching the use of new composite materials and sustainable fuels in airline travel.

The research is set to solve the problem of fuel efficiency in super-fast aircraft. The British Aerospace , BAe for short, is a short-haul regional airliner. The BAe features a large airbrake with two petals at the rear of the fuselage below the tail rudder instead of thrust reversers.

The advantage of the airbrake over thrust reversers is that they can be used during flight and allow for steep descents if needed. The BAe had a cruise speed of Mach 0. One of the notable features of this aircraft, and its engines, is that it had a very low level of operational noise. This was because of the geared turbofan ALF — the gearbox allows the fan speed to stay below the speed of sound, which greatly reduces the noise emitted from the engines.

My airline business experience is limited to flying the machines. I would recommend that you talk to people in the airline management field for more accurate information. Hi, Brad. Thanks for reading. Yep, all professional pilots that carry stuff for money whether it be people or boxes are freight pilots. Not much room on a freighter flight deck! Especially after seeing The Castaway with Tom Hanks.

Thank you for a look inside!! Very interesting reading! I am a VERY nervous flyer I never get on without prescription antianxiety pills and I have a big flight coming up, so i was just googleing the usual stuff when I found this post.

Keep up the good work! Hi Kris! Thank you for the kind words. Try not to be too concerned when the plane runs into turbulence. Thanks for this fascinating insight into the working life of a cargo pilot. I have an assessment day and interview coming up as I work towards obtaining my MPL for a commercial airliner. Wish me luck! Thanks for reading, Ken. Wonderful text, be a freight pilot looks really good! Now I know more about the Cargo Airlines, thanks Mr. The divorce rate in aviation and other occupations that require a lot of travel is high.

It takes a very special and supportive spouse, along with mutual trust to make it work. One thing I would like to know more about… do the Cargo Airlines make the aircraft mechanics ride the aircraft they fix?

To your point about Maslows hierarchy of needs, it is good that pilots have to ride the planes, but it would be better if the maintainers had to ride them on a random but regular basis. Maintainer: ulp!! Maintenance technicians are not required to randomly ride on our aircraft. They do often ride with us when commuting to work or when flying on personal business.

It takes a lot of people to get an airliner into the air. Pilots and maintenance technicians are just the tip of the iceberg. There are dispatchers, fuelers, schedulers, loaders, aircraft cleaners, ground equipment operators, instructors, meteorologists, air traffic controllers, and many, many more.

Each and every one of these people play an absolutely critical role in the safety of every flight. What keeps the machine running smoothly is the pride we all take in our work. That plane had 2 configurations. One for cargo and the other for passengers. Kinda cool. I figured the loading doors will be open anyway, so cooling is not very effective.

But is the flight deck cooled? Can image it may become pretty hot in some climates. In hot weather, there are times when we need to keep the cargo area cool when loading. An example would be when we are carrying pharmaceuticals or perishable goods that need to be temperature controlled.

Much more important in hot weather is keeping the cockpit cool! The avionics and equipment in the cockpit are very temperature sensitive when they are running; they can easily overheat and be damaged. In hot weather, the cockpit has to be kept cool anytime equipment is turned on. Thank you so much for all the valuable clarifications! Nice article, though I am not in this career I can tell you I am very much fond of flights and flying, every bit of it excites me.

Reading your article about cargo flights was very fascinating. Thanks for your article Ken H. Would be handy to be able to have these go on the same flight paying the extra baggage fee. Are procedures for loading different i. Thank you for any insight! Hi Ken Enjoyed the read. I thought this would be a question that is always asked of you too.

There are numerous issues with safety, security, regulations, and logistics. On some cargo planes there are windows upstairs at the front. Does that indicate there are seats available for a few passengers? Most cargo aircraft have a few seats behind the cockpit. Unfortunately, those seats can only be used by company personnel and are not available for passenger transportation.

I travel by air a lot and always wondered about the freight only airlines, thanks a million for taking the time out to answer all the questions.

I can remember steaming along hour after hour watching the Pacific roll by with the plane on the Iron Mike and porpoising along on altitude hold. Those were the days. Sigh… Memories. See the world. Wow, cool article! I actually always assumed that passenger service pilots would rather fly cargo.

That could be the jaded part of my mind talking after too many years in public service. I have one question about pilot. How much pilot makes per year?

I heard fedex and UPS they pays more then any other flights. Some of that information is available elsewhere on the internet. Question for you. When flying cargo planes, do you need to go through security screening or are you at liberty and trusted to bring anything you like into your cockpit as long as your judgement tells you it wont destabilize or crash the flight or harm your buddy first officer?

The security restrictions for us passengers these days are horrendous. Even a budget mineral water bottle is forbidden to fly. When flying outside the United States, we usually go through flight crew security lines at the passenger terminals before riding out to our aircraft.

Some airports have special screening areas just for cargo crews, but the screening is the same as for passenger crews. However, this is only an average because wind and the elements can affect that number. In addition, military aircraft, private jets, and other types of aircraft may have speeds that are higher or lower. Big commercial airplanes generally fly in the MPH range, but their landing and taking-off speeds are naturally going to be different.

As a general rule, airspeed is measured according to the velocity of the plane as it flies through the air. Wind resistance can affect that speed more than anything else, and if takeoff and landing speeds vary it is due to overall weight capacity or runway length, among other factors.

They publish these sheets for every make and model of aircraft in use today and are therefore a great way to get this type of information. Typically, the aircraft would cross the Atlantic in about three-and-a-half hours, sometimes faster.

The record-breaking flight from New York to London took place on February 7, , and with the help of a strong tailwind took just 2 hours, 52 minutes, and 59 seconds from take off to landing. With Concorde being a part of history now, though, and no other supersonic airliner anywhere in sight, these days we have to settle for subsonic speeds. And, while most jet airliners fly at — as mentioned above — similar speeds, some do fly a bit faster than others.

The one passenger plane type that regularly cruises faster than all the others is the Boeing The type generally cruises at speeds of about Mach 0. In fact, the is recorded to have flown even faster at times — at Mach 0. It was not built to withstand those speeds for prolonged periods of time, though. For all practical purposes, just remember that passenger jets cruise at around kmph mph while turboprops cruise much slower, at around kmph mph.

That does not mean, though, that some aircraft types are not faster than others, and that there are no other factors — such as wind — influencing the time it will take you to get from your departure airport to your arrival airport. Other things worth remembering might be that Concorde used to be the fastest — and the only supersonic — passenger plane until it was retired in , and that currently, the fastest airliner you can fly on is the Boeing