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Aviation Question
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:51 pm
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:51 pm
When a plane is going from point A to B, say from New York to Paris why doesn't the plane have to routinaly descend to adjust for the ball shape of the earth?
10
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:53 pm to hipgnosis
I'm gonna guess gravity
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:53 pm to hipgnosis
Are you saying the Earth is flat?
You've gone full magma son, never go full magma.
You've gone full magma son, never go full magma.
This post was edited on 4/6/15 at 8:55 pm
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:55 pm to Vols&Shaft83
I'm just wondering what's up with that.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:56 pm to Vols&Shaft83
quote:
You've gone full magma son, never go full magma.
Internal laugh.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:59 pm to hipgnosis
quote:
I'm just wondering what's up with that.
I'm assuming gravity. But I don't know.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 8:59 pm to hipgnosis
Because they don't fly in a straight line. If you look at a flight path, it curves. The curve mitigates the "curvature of the earth" and allows the plane to assume an altitude without correction.
Sounds like a good explanation, I just pulled that out of my arse.
Sounds like a good explanation, I just pulled that out of my arse.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:00 pm to hipgnosis
A flight plan for a long distance flight like that usally calls for an arching flight pattern to adjust for the curvature of the earth. It makes the flight slightly shorter.
example
In the days before GPS navigation, flights from the west coast to asia would actually ride all the way north towards alaska and arch back to the south.
Some still use that type of flight path.
example
In the days before GPS navigation, flights from the west coast to asia would actually ride all the way north towards alaska and arch back to the south.
Some still use that type of flight path.
This post was edited on 4/6/15 at 9:03 pm
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:03 pm to cokebottleag
quote:
Because they don't fly in a straight line. If you look at a flight path, it curves. The curve mitigates the "curvature of the earth" and allows the plane to assume an altitude without correction.
Sounds like a good explanation, I just pulled that out of my arse.
Not bad for coming up with that out of nowhere.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:05 pm to hipgnosis
He was dead on.
5 points awarded.
5 points awarded.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:05 pm to hipgnosis
Question has been answered, when do we get to hear about Antarctica?
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:16 pm to hipgnosis
Because descent is measured relative to the surface of the earth. If you descend you will hit it. If you are in stable flight where aerodynamic lift balances gravity you will naturally follow the curvature of the earth no matter what path you take.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:29 pm to MIZ_COU
quote:This is the correct answer.
Because descent is measured relative to the surface of the earth. If you descend you will hit it. If you are in stable flight where aerodynamic lift balances gravity you will naturally follow the curvature of the earth no matter what path you take.
Or as others have said, gravity. It's all relative. This question presumes a plane travels in a straight line into space, tangent of the earth. That would be ascension into space. It doesn't. It travels parallel to the ground directly below. Thus it is constantly "descending" relative to space, by maintaining a constant altitude relative to the earth. Because the earth itself is always "descending"
Flights are naturally curved due to the earth, but the unusual paths you see in transatlantic flights are to hit jet streams. A transatlantic flight westbound (Europe to North America) may actually take an hour or two longer than the return flight of the same exact locations.
This post was edited on 4/7/15 at 12:22 am
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:35 pm to genro
quote:
Flights are naturally curved due to the earth, but the unusual paths you see in transantlantic flights are to hit jet streams
This. The fastest I have ever traveled was on a flight from Seoul to Seattle. The pilots caught the jet stream and we had a 140 mph tailwind. The plane hit a top speed of 741 mph, just shy of the sound barrier.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:50 pm to genro
quote:Not entirely. The shortest physical distance between two points on the surface of a sphere is called a great circle which looks like it curves a lot to the north (in the northern hemisphere) when drawn on a flat map
but the unusual paths you see in transantlantic flights are to hit jet streams.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:55 pm to genro
My last flight from the US to Europe was fricking quick.
Thanks jet stream.
Thanks jet stream.
Posted on 4/6/15 at 9:56 pm to MIZ_COU
I acknowledged that they were curved due to the earth. However a flight between two southern locations, say Atlanta and Rome may look very unusual because it will travel in the sub-Arctic, along the same path as a NY-London flight, to catch the jetstream
This post was edited on 4/6/15 at 9:58 pm
Posted on 4/7/15 at 7:46 am to hipgnosis
Because they do not fly a straight line from A to B. Duh
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