ANSWERS: 3
  • Depends on the airplane. High altitude jets routinely cruise near 600 MPH while single engine trainers are closer to 100 MPH.
  • "Jet aircraft possess high cruising speeds (700 to 900 km/h, or 400 to 550 mph) and high speeds for take-off and landing (150 to 250 km/h)." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed-wing_aircraft
  • To maintain level flight an airfoil (wing for a plane, blade for a helicopter, wing for a bird, etc.) must have more pressure on the bottom than on the top. This is why most (but not necessarily all)airfoils are rounded on top and flat on the bottom. This design causes the air molecules to move more quickly on the top in an attempt to join at the trialing edge of the wing...thus less pressure on the top than on the bottom. To maintain this condition the airfoil must be traveling forward fast enough to overcome weight (of the flying body), drag (air resistance). Birds flap their wings and planes are either pulled or pushed through the air by their engines. The engines are designed to be strong enough to maintain level flight...or faster. Some planes can fly level as slowly as 50 mph (or slower) and as fast as 2000 mph (or faster). The "average" is not in between.

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