Flying to Europe, LAX direct to Rome is difficult.

Flying to Europe was difficult. We arrived dead tired. Now, I remember why I hate flying long distances and perhaps why I would rather travel in our motorhome. But you can’t get to Europe in a motorhome. Poor baby, he had to fly to Europe, and now he’s tired…

Europe timeline April 1, 2025

What are we doing in Europe? Here is the story. Touring Europe might be a crazy idea.

Like everything else in our blog, this is about how we flew to Europe, not how you should fly there.

Nothing was easy, and it seems to be getting more complex. More than eleven and a half hours after takeoff from Los Angeles, we landed in Europe. The first question was whether it was a train or a taxi from the airport to Rome. We chose a taxi but had to wait for 10 others to depart before we got one big enough for four people plus our bags. As for bags, I’m talking luggage, not our wives.

Departing LAX

After flying to Los Angeles from San Diego, we found our seats to be much better than most (they cost more), but they were still smaller than we desired. They were also more comfortable but still had too many hard, sharp parts. However, they still had huge issues. Would we survive almost twelve hours in these seats while flying to Europe? And the plane seemed to be going in the wrong direction. Would it not be best to take the shortest route?

The Great Circle Route to Europe

The Great Circle route is the shortest distance between any two points. It is used by sailors and pilots when charting a path across the globe. Would it not be best to take the shortest route to Europe? It turns out that it may not be the best way, even if it is the shortest route.

I was confused. Our route across southern California and Arizona was south of the Great Circle route so that we wouldn’t be south of Hudson Bay and Greenland. I was hoping to see the sunrise over Greenland. The Great Circle route would have also meant a route over Ireland and England. France was a given, even if we were south of the Great Circle Route while flying to Europe.

In the Jet Stream

We were south of the Great Circle Route because we were heading for the Jet Stream, and because my view of the GPS didn’t show speed, I didn’t know we were in the Jet Stream. I discovered the GPS display had a detailed page with altitude and ground speed. Our ground speed was nearly 700 knots, and our plane wouldn’t go anywhere near 700 knots airspeed. The Ground Speed readout was either in Statute Miles per Hour or Kilometers per hour, and no pilot (including me) would use Statute Miles per Hour or Kilometers per hour to judge aircraft performance.

In terms of Mach number, the Airbus 350 cruises at 0.89. We flew at 39,000 feet, crossing the Rocky Mountains at negative 70 degrees. All these things contribute to the aircraft’s speed. Assuming the 0.89 speed we traveled at 39,000 feet gives a True Airspeed of 588 knots per hour. This means the tailwind in the jet stream was well more than 120 knots to deliver the nearly 700 miles per hour displayed on the cabin displays.

A tailwind must be behind you to increase your ground speed; being directly behind you is ideal. For a tailwind to increase your ground speed by more than 120 knots, assuming that it was not directly behind you, it means that the wind speed was much greater than 120 knots for much of the trip.

Since the Jet Stream was so fast, flying south of the Great Circle route to Europe took less time (and fuel) than if the aircraft were flying the shortest route.

Of course, I was asleep about the time the speed really picked up, and I missed witnessing if we had actually exceeded 700 miles per hour ground speed.

Stratosphere

Thirty-nine thousand feet displayed at this point was also the highest altitude I have ever flown. Our altitude placed us nearly at or maybe even in the lower reaches of the Stratosphere. Since we were north of the mid-latitudes rather than at the equator, there is a real possibility that our altitude was higher than the lower levels of the Stratosphere. At the equator, we would have been much lower than the line.

We think of the stratosphere as a constant altitude, but this isn’t true and isn’t uniform at all locations. Sometimes, weather events can push the stratosphere to a higher elevation.

Wind speeds are typically much higher in the stratosphere, and the large area of high wind speed we were experiencing gives credence to the argument that we were flying in the stratosphere.

When I woke up, the altitude was 41,000 feet, and the temperature was still more than negative 60 degrees. Were we in the stratosphere? I am pretty sure, but since we dropped out of the Jet Stream, our ground speed was now well shy of 700 knots.

The Alps

We crossed the French Alps at 41,000 feet, from which the above photo of the snow-capped mountains was taken.

Firsts

Longest flight ever, 11.5 hours, ugh.

First time above 700 miles per hour.

First time in the Stratosphere.

New altitude record 41,000 feet.

For Tami, it is her first flight to Europe, and all the above are for her as well.

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Links

Weather Underground Jet Stream Map

Netweather Jet Stream Map

ITA Airways

About our photos

These photos were taken during our visit. Our photos are often “enhanced” to represent what we saw in person and correct for lighting and other things. Sometimes, this editing makes the images look better than what we saw in person.

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