Can a plane seriously manage nearly 10000 miles and 20 hours non stop ?

Question

i was looking on answers a couple of days ago and 1 question mentioned singapore airlines flight from newark to sin which takes 20 hours and is just short of 10 k miles i was wondering could a plane seriously stay in the air for that long without stopping. in my opinion surely it would need to refuel some because as far as i am aware the limit most planes have a 12 -13 hours and 6.5 k miles

just curious

Answer 1

yep

Answer 2

"The A380-800 has a design range of 15,200 kilometres (8,200 nmi), sufficient to fly from New York to Hong Kong for example, and a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruising altitude)."

which equals 16.88888 hours

"The 777-200LR (772C) ("LR" for "Longer Range") became the world's longest range commercial airliner when it entered service in 2006. Boeing named this plane the WorldLiner for its ability to connect almost any two airports in the world, although it is subject to ETOPS restrictions. It is capable of flying 9,450 nautical miles (17,501.40 km, equivalent to 7/16 of the earth's circumference) in 18 hours. Developed alongside the 777-300ER, the 777-200LR achieves this with either 110,000 lbf (489 kN) thrust General Electric GE90-110B1 turbofans, or as an option, GE90-115B turbofans used on the -300ER."

On November 10, 2005, a 777-200LR set a record for the longest non-stop flight by passenger airliner by flying 11,664 nautical miles (13,422 statute miles, or 21,602 km) eastwards (the westerly great circle route is only 5,209 nautical miles) from Hong Kong, China, to London, UK. The journey took 22 hours and 42 minutes. This was logged into the Guinness World Records and surpassed the 777-200LR's design range of 9,450 nmi with 301 passengers and baggage.

Answer 3

Singapore Airlines flight SQ022 does operate non-stop from Singapore to Newark using an Airbus A340-500 aircraft. The scheduled duration of the flight is 19 hours, though I honestly cannot understand why anyone would want to be stuck in an aircraft for that length of time. By careful management of speed and altitude, this distance and duration is certainly possible.

I wouldn't use Microsoft Flight Simulator as a basis to test how far an aircraft can fly. The fuel flow rates in MSFS are somewhat inaccurate.

Answer 4

Yes, it also depends on how well you handle/exploit the plane's performance capabilities without compromising safety/efficiency. For instance, Boeing and most/all documentation says that Boeing 737 jets are designed to operate efficiently when flown between altitudes of 35,000ft - 37,000ft at a speed of Mach 0.74 ...and that the 737-400 for instance, will cover a little over 5,000km on its full tank of some 17,000kg of Jet-A1. This is true, but if you understand aerodynamics from a safety/performance/profit point of view, it is possible to fly it at 40,000ft at Mach 0.76...doing this will give you way more distance to go on that full tank. Also, if you manage your ascent efficiently via FMS or just by:

1. Keep vertical speed as high as possible while...

2. Keeping your engine's EGT out of the yellow-zone (not even red)...

3. Keeping a constant airspeed/Mach number. If this number goes up, it means you can increase vertical speed (climb angle) slightly....

4. Keeping your fuel flow (SFC) as low as possible, as long as possible.

5. Bonus: If most (as possible) of your flight route features tail winds to help push you along, saving you fuel and time.

Do all these things listed above simultaneously for your airplane's given weight and you will get close to or even hit "The Perfect Flight" profile/characteristics.

These are the key things to reducing your climb-up fuel burn which thus leaves you with more fuel to use later...to extend your range. This explains why some airplanes can stay in the air longer than expected.