Question: How high can a plane fly?
– submitted by reader Manish, Jaipur, India
Answer:It depends on the airplane. Some corporate airplanes can fly up to 51,000 feet. The Concorde flew up to 60,000 feet, and the all-time high flier was the SR-71 which could go over 80,000 feet. Some experimental airplanes flew higher, but they were rocket-powered and did not take off by themselves, so I am excluding them.
Q:How fast can planes go?
– David Swisher, Allegan, Michigan
A: It depends on the airplane. The SR-71 could fly three times the speed of sound (over 2,100 mph).
Q: Do you think any aircraft exceeds the SR-71 as a high performance "extreme" jet (not rocket) aircraft?
– Bill Boyle
A:Not to my knowledge. The SR-71 was in a class by itself. No other airplane could go as high, as fast, for as long. The legendary reconnaissance jet required a large support staff and infrastructure, but nothing could do the same job.In the days before high-resolution satellite imagery, the SR-71 provided images of places no other airplane could have achieved.
Q: I was told that a jet plane could reach mach 7 or 8, true?
– Charles Conley, Columbus, Ohio
A:No current jet has exceeded Mach 3.5, only the SR-71 and A-12 could reach that speed. Hypersonic flight above Mach 5 has been achieved with missiles but not jets.
Q: What ejection seat did the SR-71 have?
– Gary M. Eaton, Valrico, Florida
A: The SR-71 ejection seat was a Lockheed-built SR-1 ejection seat. It is similar to the ejection seat in the U-2. Both are derivatives of the Lockheed C-2, which was similar to the Stanley ejection seat used in several military aircraft.
Q: In reference to your recent column about high speed climbs, can a tower operator give permission to violate the FAA regulation for 250 knots below 10,000 feet?
– Larry, Arizona
A: Not usually. There could be a very rare or extreme case where a tower operator might issue a very special clearance after coordinating with departure control and enroute control. An example would be if an SR-71 was at an airshow and was departing for its base. That airplane has a special need to climb faster than 250 knots. It is possible that the approval for the high-speed climb would come from the tower controller, but that would be a very special set of circ*mstances.
John Cox is a retired airline captain with US Airways and runs his own aviation safety consulting company, Safety Operating Systems.
