Flying and the jet stream?

[JTG51]

I flew from CA to CT and back for the holidays. I noticed that the trip from West to East was quite a bit faster than East to West. Why is this? Does the jet stream make that much difference, or is there another reason?

[nolanfan34]

You're correct, it's the jet stream. It does make a difference.

[lu_hawk]

Jet stream. Typically you're going around 650mph when travelling eastward, around 550mph westward.

[brassnuts]

Yup. Think about it. An airplane's ground speed is a sum of it's airspeed (the velocity it travels relative to the surrounding air) added to the velocity of the air. I'm not sure, but don't jet streams travel at 60-100 mph?

[sfer]

I thought part of it was also flying with/against the rotation of the Earth.

Ever fly across the internation date line? That's a mind-fcuk.

[GuyOnTilt]

I thought part of it was also flying with/against the rotation of the Earth.

I don't anything on this subject, but my brain tells me that shouldn't matter at all.

GoT

[lu_hawk]

"I thought part of it was also flying with/against the rotation of the Earth."

The earth rotates so that if you were above the east coast of the US and stayed still then the west coast would be coming towards you. But it takes longer to go in that direction so either the rotation doesn't have any effect or the effect of the jet stream overpowers it.

[SomethingClever]

The atmosphere moves with the earth. That's why when you jump up in the air, you don't suddenly get slammed into a wall at 10,000 mph.

[DBowling]

Different times zones. You add time going east and subtract it going west.

[sfer]

I am so smart. S-M-R-T.