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Does plane size affect speed?

A piloted airplane's speed typically depends on its size and mission. Passenger and cargo airplanes tend to fly slower than military jets. Jets tend to fly faster than propeller or turboprop airplanes.



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The light weight of a smaller airplane makes it so that they can increase speed much faster, so takeoff and landing can happen much quicker.

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In addition to wake turbulence, rough weather and winds can pose a bigger threat to smaller planes than large ones. Because of this, flying in a tiny aircraft is not as reliable as airliners that can more safely operate in severe weather conditions, like heavy rain, snow, and high winds.

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Lower seniority pilots will likely be flying much smaller narrow-bodied jets until they can gain the seniority to upgrade to a larger plane with more responsibility.

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The engines don't have to produce as much thrust at higher altitudes because the air is thinner. This means that the aircraft can fly much faster while burning less fuel at the same time.

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Although turbulence occurs in both large and small planes, it is typically worse in smaller planes because they weigh less, and so more likely to move in line with the air and thus feel turbulence more.

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In a nutshell, the size of an airplane is not in any way linked to safety, explains Saj Ahmad, chief analyst at StretegivAero Research.

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When an airplane experiences less drag, it consumes less fuel. This relationship between speed and fuel consumption means that flying at a slightly slower speed can result in significant fuel savings for airlines, which in turn can lower operating costs and potentially reduce ticket prices for passengers.

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