Question

Again you decide to leave the cold Montreal winter for a trip to Cuba. This time however, the plane is designed to fly at a constant pressure of 300 hPa and NOT a constant altitude. What would you expect to happen to the altitude of the plane during your flight. (Note: ignore the changes as sociated with taking off and landing

Answer 1

In general, airplane fly in the stratosphere layer above our earth atmosphere. Because, in this layer there is almost no temperature variation with altitude. Hence, if a airplane fly in a straight line path, it will not feel any temperature difference. Therefore, the pressure in the flight path will be almost same all the time. Stratosphere is highly stratified, stable, dry and is not directly involved in the development of daily weather. As the pressure will no change during the flight time, the altitude also does not change.