Why are flight paths not straight?

Answer: It is shorter to fly the Great Circle route than a straight line due to the circumference of the earth being so much greater at the equator than near the poles.

Why do flight paths look curved?

Because the Earth revolves on its axis, this forces the equator to “bulge out” and be wider. Similar to the Earth itself, aircraft, therefore, take flight routes that also appear to be a curved line, tracing the Earth’s shape.

Why don’t planes fly straight across the Pacific?

The primary reason airplanes don’t fly over the Pacific Ocean is because curved routes are shorter than straight routes. Flat maps are somewhat confusing because the Earth itself isn’t flat. Rather, it’s spherical. As a result, straight routes don’t offer the shortest distance between two locations.

Why do airplanes travel in arcs?

First, it takes less fuel to fly a short path rather than a lone one. Second, airlines pay less in employee expenses. And third, airlines are able to sell more tickets when they perform shorter flights. These are just a few reasons that airlines typically choose the shortest flight path, which is an arc.

Why do planes look like they are flying straight up?

Due to the curvature of the earth, planes flying directly towards you appear to be rising vertically even though they are at a constant distance from the earth’s surface. It is the same effect as ships that appear to be rising from the sea as they draw near to the observer.

Why do planes fly in a curved path?

The curvature of the earth and its extra equatorial width mean that curving towards the poles is a shorter distance than flying in a straight line. Another criteria airlines use for determining flight paths are air currents known as the jet stream.

How to tell if a globe is curved or straight?

So if the above globe were flattened out on a 2-dimensional screen or table, the straight red line (and shortest distance) would appear as a curve, rather than a straight line… and the curved and longer, dashed blue line (and constant heading) would appear straight on a screen. John Chesire ‘s answer rocks.

How to understand flight paths better?

To understand this properly, you need to look at a globe to appreciate the curvature of the earth in order to understand flight paths better. Even using a globe of the earth is not entirely right, as the distance when making a complete circle of the earth from north to south is shorter than making a circle of the earth around the equator.

Why don’t airplanes take direct routes?

As well as the curvature of the Earth, jetstreams are another important factor in why aircraft may not take what appears to be a completely direct route. Jetstreams can sometimes have tailwinds above 200 miles per hour, and that is going to get an aircraft to where it needs to be much quicker, whilst burning a lot less fuel.