It's A Bird, It's A Plane, It's... A Plane

Heard on a pre-flight announcement from an American Airlines
pilot:

On our flight today, we will be flying at 34,000 feet.
To give you an idea of how high that is, we would be able to fly
over 50 Empire State buildings stacked one on top the other.

Our speed will be about 500 miles per hour. That is just over
the muzzle velocity of the standard military .45 pistol.

We will be pushed along by two Pratt and Whitney JT-8D-200
turbofan engines. While thrust to horsepower varies with
altitude, the total 40,000 pounds of thrust is greater than the
combined power of 10 D-9 diesel locomotives.

In other words, we're faster than a speeding bullet, more
powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a
single bound, and as always, your Dallas based crew stands for
truth, justice, and the AMERICAN way!

~from avweb.com~


from The Mountain:
A .45 bullet moves considerably faster than a jet, 34,000 feet
is the height of only half as many Empire State buildings and a
D-9 diesel produces 4,000 horsepower. Read the link below if you
want to check the truth of the 10 locomotive engines.

Remember, this is flight crew helping to make a potentially
boring flight better. Often, the spirit is more important that
the details.
http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/propulsion/q0195.shtml


from Mountain Wings Issue