I recently started commuting by bicycle, but now that it\'s becoming winter, I\'
ID: 1383896 • Letter: I
Question
I recently started commuting by bicycle, but now that it's becoming winter, I've been wondering more about windchill. I understand much of it involves the moisture in the air, but how come commercial airplanes land from flights with cold icy surfaces, while some supersonic jets and reentering spacecraft land with a hot surface because of atmospheric friction?
At what point is the threshold?
Is there a room temperature flight velocity?
And how fast will I need to ride my bike for atmospheric friction to overcome windchill and keep me warmer?
Explanation / Answer
In essence, the answer to the question is that aircraft wings are cold because they fly high in the atmosphere, the region known as the troposphere, and atmospheric temperatures fall with altitude in the lower atmosphere. So an aircraft flying at about 10 kilometres which is typical above the ground, a day where it