• Question: How fast does the Boeing c17 globe master travel?

    Asked by meganl56 to Al on 16 Mar 2012.
    • Photo: Al Bartlett

      Al Bartlett answered on 16 Mar 2012:

      Hello Meganl56,

      The C17 can travel at up to 450knots (830 kilometers per hour).

      Another way of looking at the speed is whats known as ‘Mach’ (pronounced like ‘mack’). Mach 1 is essentially the speed of sound but the C17 travels at about Mach 0.76 – so about three quarters of the speed of sound which for an aircraft which is as big as the C17 is very impressive.

      The aircraft has four Pratt & Whitney engines – they are not as complicated as they look but still an awesome piece of engineering!!

      Here is a website with a picture (you’ll need to click on it to enlarge the picture):

      http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/F117-Engines-for-C-17s-05999/

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