Why does it take an hr longer to fly back in a plane than it does flying there in the first place?

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cb450t

wind,

theres something called jetstream and plane use its wind to speed up

Timothy T

Your travel route had tailwinds when you flew out, and when you flew back you had headwinds, which meant that the plane was going against the wind.

allan y

da_hal is correct.

i wonder who thumbed down him. idiot!!!

smjohnson55

time zone change, although the actual flight time was probably about the same (depending on wind)

thisisnotdel

Time zone and wind have to be the two reasons. Sure, it takes 5 hours and 5 minutes or something like that to get to Barbados direct from Barbados, and 5 hours, and 55 mins or around there direct back to Toronto from Barbados.

when you are going the wind is behind you so it helps to push the plane and when coming home the wind is pushing against you and allso time zones

Kurt P

This happened to me between Singapore and Amsterdam. It is due to winds at the altitude. They help the plane speed wise. If you notice in flight the plane is flying at approx 1000km/h with the added help of the winds. And on the way back its 800km/h low 900's. Normally the 747 has a rough speed of around 900km/h or there abouts as average. I personally wondered the same thing. What dad's are for as he does that trip every 6 months or so. Hope that answer's your questions

jeff_elsten

Time Zone difference.

benandgavinsmomma

Time Zones. It doesn't take longer time wise but according to your watch it does.

clark6561

Depends on which way you go gain time one way lose time the other Got 4 time zones in US alone

macho_bob

tailwinds and headwinds. It's just like the current in the ocean. Wind current in the sky can resist the plane, or it can actually blow in the same direction you are traveling and reduce travel time.

Vegan

Change in timezones?

Sean

World is divided in the east to west direction in 24 times zones. What is means is that, Places that in your east are ahead of you time wise and places that are west of you are behind time wise. hence if you travel east to west and back, the discrepancy of time will occur.

However, North-south travelers will not experience this.

poodles12026

Passing through time zones could be a factor. It's not really longer but the time would seem that way. Cuz when you pass through a time zone when you think it should be maybe 1 o'clock it would really be already 2 o'clock or 12 o'clock for example.

Debi in LA

Downhill there, uphill back?

I've also wondered how come if I toss a ball in the air when on an airplain, how come the ball doesn't end up in the back of the plane. It always lands back in my hand. How can it do that if we are traveling hundreds of miles per hour. *shrug*

luosechi é§±å£«åŸº

Hehe - gocha! The length of flight is the same. You just crossed into or from a different time zone.

da_hal

The Straight Dope

"It's the wind factor. The wind predominately moves from west to east (on account of the earth's rotation) although there are lots of swirls and eddies, of course.

Thanks for writing, we hope that helps,
CK Dexter Haven
Straight Dope Staff"

gimme the points!

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