if you tookoff on a airplain flying west at daylight could you stay in daylight flying around the world?

terry l: if you tookoff on a airplain flying west at daylight could you stay in daylight flying around the world?

Answers and Views:

Answer by Pilot
This question is very vague. The earth spins at about 1,000 mph, there are 24 hrs per day, the earth is about 25,000 miles wide at the equator. So if you were going about 1,000 mph (or a little over) then yes, you could.

immenseg (etc)- gravitational pull has nothing to do with being able to stay in the daylight. Of course the earth pulls the plane toward it! But lift (along with many other things) keep it up, that’s why it’s called “flying!”. You’re off the ground! And there are planes that travel faster than 1,000 mph. Don’t post an answer to a question (or topic) you know nothing about

Answer by immensegaming.proboards83.com
2 facts
1: the earth has gravity and will pull the plane to the earth
2: the earth travels allot faster than any plane has ever been.

so that means when the earth moves the plane is fighting it but it will eventually will get into darkness

Answer by richard b
if you could maintain a speed of just over 1000mph for 24 hours, then yes you could fly in daylight all the time. but as noted since no aircraft has the fuel to sustain the speed needed, it wont happen. there was one plane that did in fact fly around the world without refueling, but they had an average speed of something like 150kts.

Answer by Mark
Yes–at some latitudes.

The groundspeed needed is 900 kts cosine latitude.

That is slow near the poles.

450 kts 60º from the Equator.

About 308 kts 70º from the Equator.

About 156 kts 80º from the Equator.

Answer by meatballes
Yes. An SR-71 Blackbird could take off on the east coast just after sunrise, fly west at top speed and watch the sun set back down in the east, land, then watch the sun rise again.

As far as I know that’s the only airplane that can do it though.

Answer by Pilot & Mathematician Spaniard
If you take for example:
Aircraft travel at an average of 500 mph. The distance from England to Australia is 12,000 miles.
That is why it takes 24 hours to travel to Australia from England.

So if you set off at 00:00 GMT, and flew direct to Australia*** from England.
You would get to Australia at 00:00 GMT but it would be 12:00 in Australia.
That means you would have to travel 1000 mph to travel as fast as the Earth spins.

If you flew in a concorde, around the equator all the way round the world in the direction the Earth spins, it would always be the same time of day in the aircraft. However time hasn’t stopped.

So, the answer is: It is possible, in a concorde but they aren’t in use anymore, or in a fighter jet.

***Lets assume unlimited fuel,

Answer by agcatav8r
Yes, absolutely. There are several aircraft that could do this, but crew endurance would be a major limiting factor. Fuel would also be a limiting factor. But just as a hypothetical, take the F-15E strike eagle. Crew of 2, dual controls (one can fly while the other rests), and a published top speed of mach 2.5. Plenty of speed to not only keep up with, but actually overtake the sun. If the crew were able to carry sufficient water and food, as well as storage pouches for the recycled food and water, they could stay airborne for several days with aerial refueling. The aircraft would fly for a given amount of time at a high rate of speed, actually gaining ground on the sun. It would need to do this because it would slow down periodically to refuel, thus losing ground. So it would not be able to keep up exactly with the rate of travel that the earth rotates, but would be more like a yo-yo. Fast, then slow, but the average could be kept in the speed you are asking about. Now crew endurance would be the biggest problem. The F-15 is very cramped, and not someplace you would want to spend a long period of time in. The Concorde was able to cruise at nearly mach 2 and had plenty of room to stretch out in, but could not be refueled in mid-air. But there are several television documentaries about the Concorde in which the crew has talked about leaving London bound for New York after the sun had gone down and they caught the sun before they landed.

WOW I love it when I spend my time to give a correct answer, and some toad licking knuckle dragger living in his mother’s basement takes a break from his gay porn to come to a forum with a subject matter that is miles over their head and take the time to give a thumbs down. Marvelous.

Answer by Concorde
Very good question. Unfortunately in today’s conventional jets you cannot. The earth rotates just over 1000 mph. Which means a plane flying west going 600 mph could not keep up. However Concorde actually flew faster then 1000 mph in fact it flew around 1350 mph. Concorde could not only remain in the same time zone but exceed it.

Just an interesting fact the earth is orbiting the sun at approximately 67,000 mph.

Answer by Dan B
If you stood exactly at the north (or south) pole, you yourself could rotate faster than the sun; no airplane needed. At that point, the theoretical rotational speed of the earth is zero mph.

Most of the other answers are correct. Travel at about 1,050 mph and you’ll fly along with the sun’s movement across the sky given enough fuel and pilot’s endurance.

Answer by Techwing
Yes, you can do this, if the airplane flies fast enough. At the equator, you’d have to exceed the speed of sound to accomplish this, but at higher latitudes you can do it in an ordinary jet. In fact, airliners that fly to the north on “over-the-pole” routes or other long-distance routes can easily outrun the rotation of the Earth, and may even land at a local time that is earlier than the time they left.