F-16 vs Commercial Jets

[rowbeartoe]

Hi Everyone.

Most of the new commercial jets (as compared to business jets) will cruise at around Mach 0.85 over great distances. I think planes like the 747 and Airbus can go slighter faster. Question, could a Military Jet such as the F-16 travel half the country much faster? I used to think military Jets could sustain their top speeds and never gave it a second thought. But now, after learning those high speeds were for brief moments I was wondering if there really is much difference in traveling. Obviously If we are talking only a few hundred miles, the military Jets would easily win, but over great distance, would there be much difference? For fun- lets say the F-16 could refuel in air as much as possible.

Thanks everyone.

[jaws]

The point of this thread is ________

[firebase99]

Hi Everyone.

Most of the new commercial jets (as compared to business jets) will cruise at around Mach 0.85 over great distances. I think planes like the 747 and Airbus can go slighter faster. Question, could a Military Jet such as the F-16 travel half the country much faster? I used to think military Jets could sustain their top speeds and never gave it a second thought. But now, after learning those high speeds were for brief moments I was wondering if there really is much difference in traveling. Obviously If we are talking only a few hundred miles, the military Jets would easily win, but over great distance, would there be much difference? For fun- lets say the F-16 could refuel in air as much as possible.

Thanks everyone.

If F-16 could refuel in air as much as possible then yes itd be MUCH faster than an airliner. A clean Viper at 36,000 can probably supercruise for quite some time.

[southernphantom]

The point of this thread is ________

To discuss the effective cruising speeds of two types of aircraft with very different propulsion and aerodynamic design.