Alright, you Airchannel junkies. What is the fastest you have ever seen the airchannel say the plane was going? I was flying from Sydney to LAX and with the wind pushing us, it said 680 miles per hour. That was with Qantas.

I remember hearing that the 707's could make better speed from New York to California 30 years ago than the newer planes now make, partly to padding the hours and the higher price for fuel.

I think I saw 700MPH approaching Japan from Hong Kong on a CX 744.

The shape and design of the wings determine the optimum and most efficient crusing speed. In the 60's, speed was a selling point, and the 747's wing was designed for high cruising speed. The swept angle is higher than other common passenger planes in use.

The Convair 990 was even faster.

These days, the 747 is fastest, then the 777. The Airbuses have slower cruising speed.

The figure "Mach 2" sticks out, on an uncomfortably crowded plane to LHR a few ago. Also seemed to be flying fairly high as well as going fast.

(OK you math whizzes. Assuming the Earth is round and a 3800 mile trip, how much further does a plane at 60,000 feet fly compared to a plane flying the same route at 37000 feet?)

Assuming the entire flight is is at 60k or 37k feet, the difference over a 3800mi flight is about 2 miles, or essentially negilgible. Since the earth is ~8000miles in diameter, flying 11 miles or 7 miles above the earth surface is for all intents and purposes, roughly equivalent to traveling on the surface of the earth.

Don't understand the reference to Mach 2...since the demise of the SST, nobody is flying supersonic these days. Speeds of Mach 2 get into the realm of fighter aircraft.

Just want to add that Airshow gives you groundspeed, so actual speed going through the air is a little higher, as the above calculations indicate.

rizzuto was flying the Concorde.