# Has any airplane ever tried to race the eclipse? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2024, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976 "2024-04-07T16:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/21 "2024-04-11T22:41:23Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > YouTuber Jeb Brooks was on one of the Southwest flights, but due to Southwest’s non-reserved seating was unable to get a window seat. As airline-savvy as he and Suzanne seem to be, I was really surprised they weren’t able to score window seats. Of course with SWA’s boarding policy it depends on how quick you can hit the boarding pass button when the seats open up 24 hours ahead of time. (Apparently they weren’t able to get early bird or upgraded boarding) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2024, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/22 "2024-04-11T22:54:22Z")
There’s also not even a window directly at every seat. There’s about four windows per three seats. So although a 737-800 holds about 180 people, that’s ~30 rows of 6 and about 40 windows. Except for a couple spots on the left side ahead of the wing where there are two gaps of about 3-4 feet with no windows at all. If the eclipse is mostly straight up near zenith you won’t be able to see it. It it’s at a low angle to the horizon, if the pilots are trying to keep up with totality they need to have the eclipse mostly behind the airplane, not broadside to the airplane. Bottom line: maybe 20 people get a glance at the eclipse at a difficult viewing angle. Everybody else? Bupkiss. In all a neat idea that doesn’t pan out. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/23 "2024-04-12T13:30:22Z")
I know people who wanted to do watch it while flying in a hot-air balloon. Someone else said that wouldn’t work because the envelope (fabric part) is so wide & that it would block the view of you looking up at to see totality. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/24 "2024-04-12T14:36:16Z")
The OP may be interested in [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzwwofB5_Nc) about the Concorde flight. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/25 "2024-04-12T14:57:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > [2,200 Miles Per Hour: The SR-71 Spy Plane Flew Coast to Coast in Just Over an Hour | The National Interest](https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/2200-miles-hour-sr-71-spy-plane-flew-coast-coast-just-over-hour-190447) I can’t find details so maybe my recollection is way off, but I recall that an SR-71 circumnavigated the earth averaging over 1000MPH so that the entire trip tool only 24 hours. Obviously refueling in flight, but they couldn’t travel in a great circle in order to avoid flying over Soviet territory. Anyone remember this? I saw one comment online that an SR-71 had never circumnavigated the earth. Was it some other type of high speed military aircraft? ETA: Still finding nothing. Did I just dream this? ETA: It’s not listed in circumnavigation flight records. Maybe the flight wasn’t non-stop? ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/26 "2024-04-12T15:03:52Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Bottom line: maybe 20 people get a glance at the eclipse at a difficult viewing angle. Everybody else? Bupkiss. > > In all a neat idea that doesn’t pan out. Yeah, if you were going to make a serious effort to make an eclipse-watching flight for tourists, you’d have to have a customized plane with a lot more windows, maybe even a full bubble-top. That seems prohibitively expensive (and likely unsafe!) for a plane that would get used at most once every few years. And if you did do it, it would be expensive enough that those high-end eclipse cruises would probably be more affordable. At least there, you don’t need to completely re-design the ship, and the ship can be used for regular cruises every other day of the year. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/27 "2024-04-12T17:59:47Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I can’t find details so maybe my recollection is way off, but I recall that an SR-71 circumnavigated the earth averaging over 1000MPH so that the entire trip tool only 24 hours. Obviously refueling in flight, but they couldn’t travel in a great circle in order to avoid flying over Soviet territory. Anyone remember this? I saw one comment online that an SR-71 had never circumnavigated the earth. Was it some other type of high speed military aircraft? There is no need to travel on a great circle to perform a circumnavigation. That’s the shortest route, but not the only route. Off top of my head, there are many, many great circles that do not intersect Soviet / Russian airspace. I don’t have a globe handy to check and fiddling with Google Earth is an unmanageable PITA at my skill level. You may be thinking of this. It wasn’t fast, but it was a full circle and then some: > **[Operation Power Flite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Power_Flite)** > > Operation Power Flite was a United States Air Force mission in which three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses became the first jet aircraft to circle the world nonstop, when they made the journey in January 1957 in 45 hours and 19 minutes, using in-flight refueling to stay aloft. The mission was intended to demonstrate that the United States had the ability to drop a hydrogen bomb anywhere in the world. > Led by Major General Archie J. Old, Jr. as flight commander, five B-52B aircraft of the 93rd Bombar... There was also this which was even slower: > **[Lucky Lady II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucky_Lady_II)** > > Lucky Lady II is a United States Air Force Boeing B-50 Superfortress that became the first airplane to circle the world nonstop. Its 1949 journey, assisted by in-flight refueling, lasted 94 hours and 1 minute. > The Lucky Lady II was a B-50 of the 43rd Bombardment Group, equipped with 12 .50-caliber (12.7mm) machine guns. For its circumnavigation mission, a fuel tank was added in the bomb bay for extra range. The mission required a double crew with three pilots, under the command of Capt. James Ga... ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/28 "2024-04-12T20:13:45Z")
Thanks. I’m baffled about this. Late 70s or 80s. There was still a Soviet Union. Yet I can’t find anything close to the event I remember. If there’s anything at all it can’t be the way I remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Fish\_Cheer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fish_cheer/32/17179_2.png) [@Fish\_Cheer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish_Cheer)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/29 "2024-04-12T20:16:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Off top of my head, there are many, many great circles that do not intersect Soviet / Russian airspace. Like, for example, the equator. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/30 "2024-04-12T20:41:45Z")
> [@Fish\_Cheer](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > Off top of my head, there are many, many great circles that do not intersect Soviet / Russian airspace. > > Like, for example, the equator And any that start in the Contiguous US going initially east or west. On the other side of the world, they’ll be over the Indian Ocean, way south of the former USSR. ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/31 "2024-04-12T23:26:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > there are many, many great circles that do not intersect Soviet / Russian airspace. In fact, there are an infinite number of them. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2024, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976/32 "2024-04-13T01:45:58Z")
By that standard there are also an infinite number that ~~do~~ did intersect the Soviet Union. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-any-airplane-ever-tried-to-race-the-eclipse/999976.md?page=1)