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The Speedy Recovery. Saab 340 Flight in Trouble!. Mel, the mathematician, is on board the flight Stewardess informs him: Speed indicator is broken Information is vital to avoid emergency landing in field How fast are we going? Are we losing speed? Is there any way to know?
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Saab 340 Flight in Trouble! • Mel, the mathematician, is on board the flight • Stewardess informs him: • Speed indicator is broken • Information is vital to avoid emergency landing in field • How fast are we going? • Are we losing speed? • Is there any way to know? • “I think so,” answers Mel • How does he do it?
Step 1 • Outside the window he sees sections of land • He knows a section is a square mile, often bordered by roads
Possible points for reference Step 2 • He picks a point on the wing or window • He counts the seconds to go 1 mile • “One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two”, etc. for the count • He gets to “one-thousand-twelve”
He now knows they are traveling 1 mile in 12 seconds Or 2 miles in 24 sec Or 3 miles in 36 sec Or 4 miles in 48 sec Or 5 miles in 60 sec So they are going five miles in a minute There are 60 minutes in an hour 5 miles = X miles 1 min. 60 min. Therefore, the plane is traveling 5 X 60 or 300 miles per hour Step 3
Cruising speed: 290 miles/hr Step 4 • Mel checks the flight magazine in the seat pocket • He sees that the cruising speed for a Saab 340 is 290 mph
Mel’s Response “There is no need to worry, ma’am. We are going a normal cruising speed of 300 miles an hour and not losing speed. There is no emergency.”
