Vocabulary Page

Transcontinental

When we talk about transcontinental flight we usually refer to a flight between an airport on the West Coast of the United States or Canada, and an airport on the East Coast of the United States or Canada.

Gummed advertising label from the 1936 National Air Races held in Los Angeles.

Air Races Souvenir, 1936

transatlantic

When we talk about transatlantic flight we usually refer to a flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or vice versa.

Speed of Sound (mach 1)

At 20 °C (68 °F), the speed of sound in air is about 343 meters per second (1,235 km/h; 1,125 ft/s; 767 mph; 667 kn), or a kilometer in 2.9 s or a mile in 4.7 s. It depends strongly on temperature as well as the medium through which a sound wave is propagating.

Pilot Edna Gardner Whyte and copilot Martha Wright pose with their Cessna 120 and trophies after winning the 11th Annual All Woman’s International Air Race in 1961.

Subsonic

Any speed lower than the speed of sound within a sound-propagating medium <760mph

Transonic

When aircraft speeds are very near the speed of sound, the aircraft is said to be transonic. Typical speeds for transonic aircraft are greater than 250 mph but less than 760 mph, and the Mach number M is nearly equal to one, M ~= 1

Supersonic

Speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately 343.2 m/s (1,126 ft/s; 768 mph; 667.1 kn; 1,236 km/h).

Hypersonic

Speed of an object that greatly exceeds the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above.

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