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Could you imagine getting from Duluth to Minneapolis in 15 minutes? Well, thats not a problem for the Thunderbirds. Last Tuesday July, 15 was the Major League Baseball All-Star game, part of the pre-game festivities involved the six-jet formation doing a fly-over Target Field as Idina Menzel hit the final note in the National Anthem. Needless to say, being there they arrived in perfect fashion. The Thunderbirds are part of the U.S. Air Force and were last in Duluth for the airshow in 2010.
Getting from Duluth to Minneapolis is a 130 mile trip, and these jets covered that distance in 15 minutes. This is probably something that most people wish they could do when traveling to the cities. So, besides jets and the average car how long does it take other things to make the trip? Here is a list of various things.
Hennesy Venom GT: Lets say I-35 didn’t have any turns or traffic. That would be awesome, now lets say the fastest car in the world was on 35. According to a website supercars.org the fastest car in the world is the Hennesy Venom GT. This car has a top speed of 270 mph. There are a lot of factors to go into this but lets say the highway is straight, no traffic, and unlimited gas. Keeping an average speed of lets say 250mph would get you there in 31 minutes and 12 seconds. Impressive, but too many factors so not realistic. The most realistic traveling speed in a car at a time where there is no traffic and no state patrols on I-35 is around 105 mph.This speed would have to be reduced on some turns but could be made up on the straight aways. This speed would get you to Minneapolis in 1 hour and 14 minutes.
Commercial Airlines: Flying commercially from the Duluth Airport to MSP International Airport takes approximately 50 minutes. Keep in mind the MSP airport is further from Duluth than Target Field.
The Loon: Our state bird the Loon could make the trip in 1 hour and 51 minutes.
Average human: A study done at Princeton University suggests that the average human walking speed is 3.1mph, walking at this pace would take 41 hours and 56 minutes.
Bald Eagles: Bald eagles fly an average speed of 30 mph. This flight would take 4 hours and 20 minutes.
Marathon Runner: Grandma’s Marathon record was recently broken, the new time to beat is 2:09:06. Finishing at this time means the average speed was around 12.1 mph. Keeping this pace for the entire 130 mile trip would take 10 hours and 44 minutes.
X-Men jet "Blackbird": If you are in to Marvel comics the X-Men jet the Blackbird can travel at 1,770 mph at sea level, according to MarvelDirectory.com. This would take only 4 minutes and 24 seconds to make the trip.