“May the wind always be at your back.”
– An Old Irish Blessing –
We're in New England for Christmas this year.
This is the true story about how we happened to get here fast...
Have you ever travelled faster than sound?
Image courtesy of Mariusz Prusaczyk and http://unsplash.com
Supersonic fast.
Have you ever gone supersonic?
A few days ago, we were on the last air leg of our journey to New England. Our flight was taking us from Minneapolis-Saint Paul to Boston. The pilot came on the intercom and announced that we'd be arriving in Boston about an hour ahead of schedule.
He said we had been favored with a jet stream tailwind of about 160 miles per hour. Not having slept the previous night, I didn't think to check our speed with my cellphone GPS.
Another in our traveling party, however, noticed a report on the Boeing 737's own trip computer. The report indicated that we were traveling more than 700 miles per hour (ground speed) and that the tailwind had hit peaks in excess of 190 miles per hour. Wow.
To give that some context, the highest windspeed on earth was recorded on Mount Washington in 1934. The speed was logged at 234 miles per hour, a record that stood until 2009.
What is the speed of sound?
The speed of sound actually varies depending on the altitude and density of the air. At the time, we were somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 feet high. In that altitude range, the speed of sound is between 660 and 680 miles per hour.
Technically, we were not traveling faster than sound—at least not relative to the air around us.
However, our ground speed was twenty to forty miles per hour faster than the usual speed of sound at our altitude, had the air been still. I think that's pretty impressive.
Mount Washington site of a wind speed record.
Original photo by 
As we deplaned,
I spoke with the two pilots. Thanking them for a great flight, I asked about the jet stream. They told me that it tends to be more active in the winter, but that its speed is typically in the range of 90 to 120 miles per hour.
One of them told me he had taken pictures. I didn't pursue the matter. Perhaps he meant photos of the instrument panel readings that day?
Whatever the pilot meant, it is clear to me that our flight was exceptional. It was my first time ever traveling faster than sound.
May the wind always be at your back.
FIN
Merry Christmas from
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