How fast can a flying squirrel fly?

A team of researchers found that the aerial locomotion of flying squirrels is quite impressive. Squirrels can take off at speeds of nearly 10 yards per second, meaning they can glide very long distances. The farther a squirrel glides, the faster it glides. They actually take off at higher speeds if they are gliding longer distances. And they speed up faster as they approach landing in longer glides. Typically, squirrels land at a 45 degree angle, but the landing angle increases with distance. Moreover, the average observed landing force is about 2.9 times the subject鈥檚 body weight. This is true for both heavy squirrels, like pregnant females, and smaller squirrels like juveniles. A squirrel鈥檚 size has nothing to do with how well or fast it glides. Furthermore, when flying squirrels aren鈥檛 flying, they鈥檙e walking, on tree branches, that is. No matter the size of branch, large or small, they walk. As the squirrels travel along a branch, they maintain a steady, relatively slow pace.


http://urban-science.blogspot.com/2008/0鈥?/a>How fast can a flying squirrel fly?
Flying squirrels actually soar...glide if you will. It would take a huge gust of wind for the squirrels to gain in altitude. They jump from one point to another and open up to allow itself to glide. They couldn't get much more than 4-5 miles an hour while doing so...unless they were fearless enough to jump over a cliff.How fast can a flying squirrel fly?
Actually, flying squirrels should be called gliding squirrels. They have flaps of skin called patagium going from their front legs to their back legs which allow them to glide from one tree to another. I imagine that their gliding wouldn't be very fast. I would say around two or three mph depending on how fast they leap off a tree.
The term flying is somewhat misleading, since flying squirrels are actually gliders incapable of true flight.