Quick question, as the title suggests. I’m in a group flight and we’d all agreed that cruise speed would be Mach .85, but my aircraft for some reason is flying slower than the others. Why is this happening? Does it have to do with my load? Is there any other factor?
If the answer is airplane load, my aircraft load is lighter than those of the others, so shouldn’t I be going faster?
Are you being hit by headwinds? Where are you flying currently, I’ll take a look at the weather map.
There are headwinds yes. We’re flying in a group of three over the Indian Ocean heading for Sydney. I was number 2 and the planes ahead and behind me have higher ground speeds than me.
I suspect the plane behind me has flown through me. Didn’t see it happen.
There can be many factors as engine type, weight, winds, altitude, etc etc. Aircraft type carries due to different engine powers. Some are better than others.
i think that is irrelevant. Mach .85 should be .85 regardless of aircraft type.
We’re all flying the same plane which is why I’m a bit confused. It has to be weight but if it’s weight I’m definitely lighter so I don’t get it.
are you all at the same altitude?
you might have stronger headwinds than your partners
One of the planes is at a lower altitude. We’re all locked in at .85 but my ground speed is lower somehow.
mach speeds are different at different altitudes.
The lower you are, the faster you’ll go. What’s your current altitude?
The plane behind me was going faster even at higher altitude. I’m at FL350 right now
Mach speed does not change. Ground speed does though.
Which speed is shown on the HUD or PFD (sometimes this isn’t the set speed but a bit lower and you would have to set M0.86 set on the A/P to get M0.85 on the PFD)?
I actually notice that as well I’ll set it to .85 but it’ll actually be indicating .83 or .84 in the HUD.
Not necessary. Maybe in some cases, but not all! 
Yes but he was basing it off of ground speed?
Ground speed is implicated when talking Mach. To be clear our Mach speeds are the same, but ground speeds are different. It’s also true that the indicated Mach speed sometimes differs from the Mach speed set on A/P
I know he said he was comparing everyones ground speeds.
Each aircraft has different specs. Some can be full throttle trying to get to .85 but not achieving. I’m talking about altitude. Infinite Flight does have some issues with physics. You might seem your flying slower when in fact your now. Aircraft size does matter.