Originally Posted by
LarryJ
The airline flies through the air at about 450 to 480 knots, ~515 to 550 mph. If the air is moving (wind) then their ground speed will be their airspeed plus (tailwind) or minus (headwind) the wind.
Think of it like a gold fish in a bowl full of water...on a train. The fish might be swimming .5 mph, but the whole bowl is travelling at 40mph, so the fish would clock a ground speed of 40.5mph while he swims across the bowl..FAST FOR A GOLDFISH! Same with a plane in the air.