Boneyard Geography in Conference Realignment (Northeast by Southwest)

[billybud]

Storrs is also basically due west of Rome and Barcelona.

I was surprised that my direct flight from Rome to Atlanta flew over Newfoundland and then down the east coast.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I was surprised that my direct flight from Rome to Atlanta flew over Newfoundland and then down the east coast.

They do that for safety and to take advantage of the smaller diameter of the globe up north compared to around the equator.

This was me a few days ago going Atlanta to Amsterdam.

 

[Eavesdrop]

I was surprised that my direct flight from Rome to Atlanta flew over Newfoundland and then down the east coast.

Yep. As Chin noted above, the curvature of the Earth also came into play in your case.

Same is true for flights from the western US coast to Asia. Most flights travel northwest toward the Aleutian Islands before turning southwest toward their destination.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

They do that for safety and to take advantage of the smaller diameter of the globe up north compared to around the equator.

This was me a few days ago going Atlanta to Amsterdam.

View attachment 89211

Ohhh, so the world isn't flat after all?!

 

[Chin Diesel]

Yep. As Chin noted above, the curvature of the Earth also came into play in your case.

Same is true for flights from the western US coast to Asia. Most flights travel northwest toward the Aleutian Islands before turning southwest toward their destination.

A couple of years ago, Atlanta to Incheon. Flew strait over Michigan and north of the northern border of Alaska. I was closer to the north pole than I was the north coast of Alaska.

 

[hank970]

Never heard of great-circle routes? Just a reminder that the Earth is roughly spherical and not a flat projection as on a map. A globe and a piece of string are all you need to comprehend the concept that the shortest distance between two widely separated points on a spherical surface doesn't conform to cardinal directions on a map unless one point is directly north or south of the other. For example, we may think of Russia as lying east or west of us, depending on whether we live closer to either our east or west coast, but the shortest distance between Russia and the US is over the Arctic Ocean. That's why our early warning system to detect unfriendly missile launches is located in the far north of our continent and in Greenland (which, tectonically speaking, is also a part of North America).

 

[storrsroars]

A couple of years ago, Atlanta to Incheon. Flew strait over Michigan and north of the northern border of Alaska. I was closer to the north pole than I was the north coast of Alaska.

View attachment 89214

I don't know if I could take a flight to Korea that crossed over Russia. Bit of history there...

 

[Kolumbo]

They do that for safety and to take advantage of the smaller diameter of the globe up north compared to around the equator.

This was me a few days ago going Atlanta to Amsterdam.

View attachment 89211

smaller diameter of the globe. wtf?

It's interesting how far north Europe is compared to the USA.

 

[Stinger92860]

Yep. As Chin noted above, the curvature of the Earth also came into play in your case.

Same is true for flights from the western US coast to Asia. Most flights travel northwest toward the Aleutian Islands before turning southwest toward their destination.

So we can leverage the curvature of the earth to get to Dallas faster by flying vs driving to Syracuse.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I don't know if I could take a flight to Korea that crossed over Russia. Bit of history there...

Currently, you would not fly to/from east Asian airports via ruZZian territory on any US-based airlines.

 

[metsfan2323]

A couple of years ago, Atlanta to Incheon. Flew strait over Michigan and north of the northern border of Alaska. I was closer to the north pole than I was the north coast of Alaska.

View attachment 89214

When are you billionaire explorers going to learn. (SMH)

 

[RSTuthill]

I was surprised that my direct flight from Rome to Atlanta flew over Newfoundland and then down the east coast.

Trying to stay close to land masses rather than the shortest route.

 

[Patman]

Trying to stay close to land masses rather than the shortest route.

that IS the shortest route

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

www.gcmap.com

 

[Samoo]

Trying to stay close to land masses rather than the shortest route.

 

[RSTuthill]

that IS the shortest route

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

A map from the Great Circle Mapper

www.gcmap.com

Get a globe out and a piece of string. You will see that it is not.

 

[Kolumbo]

a straight line, in the opposite direction

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

It occurred to me that “forward thinking” may not take place in a straight line and it may require taking into account the curvature of the earth.

From life experience, time zone challenges impact potentially more of the PAC n’s Asian initiatives. Real time kickoffs may have limited draw, but streaming re-broadcasts a la the NFL’s Sunday night abridged games in HK, SG, etc may generate a little bit of revenue. Or, not.

Pac-12 Global

The latest news, videos and photos of Pac-12 Global, an unprecedented effort in China to proactively promote the Pac-12 Conference and its member institutions through student-athlete exchanges and sport.

pac-12.com

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

I was surprised that my direct flight from Rome to Atlanta flew over Newfoundland and then down the east coast.

Particularly for trans-oceanic flights to/from E >< W locations, airlines generally limit fuel usage and time flying the shortest distance between 2 points. Not so much when ruZZia invades sovereign nations, the DPRK tests missiles, etc, but helpful insight >

Great Circle Map

Great Circle Map displays the shortest route between airports and calculates the distance. It draws geodesic flight paths on top of Google maps, so you can create your own route map.

www.greatcirclemap.com

 

[RSTuthill]

Particularly for trans-oceanic flights to/from E >< W locations, airlines generally limit fuel usage and time flying the shortest distance between 2 points. Not so much when ruZZia invades sovereign nations, the DPRK tests missiles, etc, but helpful insight >

Great Circle Map

Great Circle Map displays the shortest route between airports and calculates the distance. It draws geodesic flight paths on top of Google maps, so you can create your own route map.

www.greatcirclemap.com

Actually all airlines have to follow the ETOPS routes which are not the shortest.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Actually all airlines have to follow the ETOPS routes which are not the shortest.

Key words /s: “generally limit fuel usage and time flying the shortage distance …”; and “Particularly on trans-oceanic flights …”

 

[Patman]

Get a globe out and a piece of string. You will see that it is not.

That's literally the website that maps and plot great circle distances. I'm sorry I can't help you further other than to say while the earth is round it is not a sphere.

 

[hoopsfan22]

The earth is an oblate spheroid. Not a perfect sphere; more like a ball that gets squished from the top and bottom to make it bulge a bit at the middle/equator.

 

[TheDrifter75]

The earth is an oblate spheroid. Not a perfect sphere; more like a ball that gets squished from the top and bottom to make it bulge a bit at the middle/equator.

Almost like it's being flattened.

Who me? What, what did I say?

 

[RSTuthill]

The earth is an oblate spheroid. Not a perfect sphere; more like a ball that gets squished from the top and bottom to make it bulge a bit at the middle/equator.

True, but the difference between it and a perfect sphere is tiny. To very great accuracy, it may be treated as a sphere. The surface quality difference between it and perfectly smooth is also infinitesimal. Surface imperfections are always measured as percentage of the characteristic dimension, in this case the diameter or radius. The earth has been well polished.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Mods should move this to the Food and Travel board.

Some of these conference realignment nerds having me feeling.....