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True Airspeed - High-speed flight

Description

The true airspeed (TAS; also KTAS, for knots true airspeed) of an aircraft is the speed of the aircraft relative to the airmass in which it is flying. The true airspeed is important information for accurate navigation of an aircraft.

TAS can be calculated as a function of Mach number and static air temperature as shown.

Related formulas

Variables

TAStrue airspeed (m/s)
a0speed of sound at standard sea level (661.47 knots) (m/s)
MMach number (dimensionless)
Tstatic air temperature in kelvin (K)
T0temperature at standard sea level (288.15 K) (K)