yeah, I think about that 20 extra knots a
lot.
Unfortunately energy increases with the square of
speed. For any given vehicle a groundspeed of 100 KTS means a little
over 50% more energy than a groundspeed of 80 KTS. In other words it
requires over 50% more distance to stop if the brakes are applied at 100 KTS as
it does at 80 KTS. Stopping from 60 mph requries 4x the
distance as compared to stopping from 30 mph, under identical
conditions and not including the distance used during reaction
time.
Aren't you glad you asked?
Tom Gourley
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