How fast does a sports plane fly?

The speed of a sport aircraft differs per type of aircraft. A Cessna 172 has a cruising speed of approximately 185 km/h (100 knots).

Cruise speed

The cruising speed is the speed at which the aircraft flies best. This is usually also the speed at which the aircraft covers the most miles with the least fuel.

The aircraft can often fly much slower or faster than that. For example, during take-off and landing, the speed is lower.

Ground speed and air speed

When people ask us what the speed is, they usually mean the ground speed. So at what speed relative to the ground the aircraft is flying.

When it comes to the performance of an aircraft, it is more logical to talk about the airspeed. The 100 knots mentioned is the speed relative to the air in which you are flying. That is equal to the ground speed when there is no wind. But if you have 20 knots of wind at your back, you fly at 120 knots (222 km/h). If you have 20 knots of wind against you, your ground speed is only 80 knots (148 km/h).

Knots or kilometres per hour

Most aircraft have speedometers which indicate the speed in knots. In the handbook, all speeds are in knots. Therefore, we calculate with these. One knot is equal to one sea mile per hour. That is 1.852 km per hour.

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More information

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Then download our theory book "How an aeroplane flies" completely free of charge. This booklet describes in an accessible way the background of a first flying lesson. So that before or after your lesson you can read back what happened around you. You will read about, among other things:

How lift is created and thus how an aeroplane can fly

How to make a turn with an aeroplane

What the traffic rules on the ground and in the air are

And what all the buttons and gauges in the cockpit mean

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About Eveline van den Boom

Author of this article is Eveline van den Boom. In 2006, she got her first flying lesson as a birthday present; a beautiful flight over Rotterdam. That tasted like more!

In 2010, she obtained her PPL pilot's licence in Lelystad. In 2011, a plane was purchased: an Aero AT-3. This aircraft is still flying in the Vliegles.nl fleet with callsign PH-EVB.

She wrote the theory books "Theory of Flying" and "Theory helicopter flying". You can order these with your flying lessons. Besides being a private pilot, Eveline also works as a Dutch real estate agent on the Costa del Sol.

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