Does the rotation of the earth have any impact on flight times of an aircraft?
Answers:
NO
Yes. If you are flying in the opposite direction that the earth is rotating in, it takes longer.
yes
Yes, but not much. The Earth rotates east at about 1,000 miles per hour at the equator. But since commercial aircraft generally fly much slower than that, closer to 500, the difference between flying east or west isn't a lot. Plus, most aircraft flight paths don't go exactly straight east and west, nor do they fly directly over the equator. Flight times are also affected by weather, wind, and aircraft traffic. The rotation of the Earth is one small factor in a large assortment of variables.
NONONONO. It will not take less time if you fly the opposite direction of the earth's rotation!! All my friends fly international flights which cross the Pacific. In fact, it takes even more time if you fly the opposite of the earth's rotation. The earth rotates from the WEST to the EAST, and if a plane flies from the west to the east, it will actually be faster, and the question why? Just remember, planes fly in the air. And AIR is all that matters. And somehow the stream moves the same direction as the earth, and the stream pushes the plane to go faster, kind of like a tail-wind situation.
NO, the rotation of the earth does not affect your flight time. Your speed is determined by how fast your plane can move through the atmophere.
It maybe true that flying west to east is slightly faster in general but that is a result of the jet stream traveling in that direction and has NOTHING, to do with the rotation of the earth.
One Gotcha though that may be causing some of the confusion. Though your time in the air will not be affected, the diffence in time zones does have an effect. If you fly NY to LA and it takes 5 hours in the air and you take off at 12:00pm (NY time) you will land at 2:00pm (LA time)
you only lose 2 hours that day eventhough you were in the air for 5 hours. You will see the sun for and extra 3 hours that day.
On the return trip the oppisite is true. If you leave LA 12:00pm and fly for 5 hours to NY, you will land at 8:00pm NY time. Taking up 8 hours of your day even though you only flew for 5 hours. You will see the sun for 3 hours less than you would have on a normal day.
Indirectly, yes.
the air rotates with the earth and airplanes fly within that air. So in the way you are thinking about it no.
However, the rotation of the Earth causes a specific circulation of the air in the atmosphere. There is a general west to east movement of winds. This is why it will take longer to come back from Paris than to go there. Another reason to stay a little longer.
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