Finding the speed and direction of a plane?

Question

A plane is traveling between two cities that are 2000 miles apart. The destination city is due north of the departure city. The arrival timeis to be 2pm. The departure time is 10am. There is also a NNE (N 22.5 E ) wind at 20mph. What is the plane's speed and direction?

Answer 1

We pilots sure do try to complicate things. Read the question folks.

"What is the planes speed and direction?"

ground speed 500 mph

course 360

way too easy. Don't need no stinking E6B. My eight year old grand daughter can do this one in her head.

And Captsead, a great circle to a point directly north is a line of longitude. The heading doesn't change. It's always 360 anywhere on earth. IT'S DUE NORTH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD. And what does a great circle have to do with the Coriolis's affect on wind? Man o man.

Answer 2

This would be more a math topic.

To answer this under this context, you would have to assume that the aircraft flys in a straight line, but this is not the case.

Aircraft fly by great circle routes for long distance flights due the Corlois effect, as this route is the most direct.

Also aircraft also fly IFR, meaning that they do not always fly in a straight line.

Wind speed also has a factor in speed and direction, as the altitude increases, the speed and direction of winds change, and change throughout the course of the flight, so the speed on one part of the flight, may not be the same as another part of the flight.

Another factor, is that the locations may not be on the same time zone, even if they are due north of each other. Mexico and the US do not always share the same time zone, becasue of daylight savings, and some places do not adhere to daylights savings like Puerto Rico, so its another assumption for flight times.

Also wind direction is knotts, not MPH for flight purposes.

Answer 3

Pilots do this with a specialized computer.  If you say "E6-B" around any old pilot, they can explain it to you.  They used to be mechanical, like a circular slide rule with a "wind face" on the back for solving wind corrections like the one you have been given.  Nowadays they are electronic.

One previous answerer claimed to be using a flight computer, but gave the wrong answer.  Here is the right answer:

To cover 2000 miles into a 20 mph wind at a 22.5 degree angle from the right, the airplane's airspeed would have to be 519 mph, and the heading correction would be one (1) degree to the right.  That is, you would fly a compass heading of 01 degrees to make a course line of 360 degrees.

Answer 4

You mean true airspeed and heading?

Answer 5

LMAO whuts that

Answer 6

ok,this is simple,not very realistic though, but I'll calculate it all on my flight computer (a pilot tool). Flight time:4 hr,Dist:2000 sm,22.5 @ 20 is wind.

Speed:2000/4=500 mph

Direction: WCA about +2 ,thus 360+2=002

I can't explain how to do it manually, but I think ou use triagles or something.

Answer 7

What he said