Aflight across the us takes longer east to west then it does west to east. this is due to the plane having a headwind flying westward (thus slowing it down) and a tailwind flying eastward (thus pushing it along faster). suppose you are flying from philadelphia, pa to san diego, ca. the distance between the cities is 2,400 miles and the plane's speed is 450 mi/hr. what is the speed of the wind? complete the chart going westward- distance - rate- time going eastward- write an equation to represent the total time if the round trip takes 11 hours. solve your equation to find the speed of the wind. round to the nearest mph. !