• Forums Software Updates

    The forums will be undergoing updates this weekend: Saturday 7th - Sunday 8th June 2025.
    Little to no downtime is expected.

Does Earth's Rotation Make Westward Travel Faster?

AgProv

AgProv

Doctor of Disorientation Studies, UnseenUniversity
Joined
Apr 6, 2014
Messages
1,622
Location
too North to be Midlands, too south to be North
If you're going to be up in the air for a long time and covering 3500 miles, would the rotation of the earth underneath you make a difference? In one direction, would a few miles be shaved off the flight, and in the other direction, would they be added on? Trying to work this one out!
 
Good question, I assume it would although I'm not sure by how much or what other factors may affect it, e.g. wind speed. I thought I'd read somewhere that flights took longer travelling in one direction. Also would you need to adjust when travelling North South? I think once you get up to orbital/sub orbital height it is a factor as the effect would be magnified. I'm sure there are others on here who will know better than I.

Looking at a the moon or a star through a telescope gives some idea of the speed of rotation as at reasonably high magnification you watch them drift out of the field of view very quickly.

I've always wonderd what effect the Earth's movement would have on teleportation as well. Not just rotation but its movement through space. (Sorry that's a different question)

Edit: EnolaGaia beat me to it and is one who knew better than I - Thanks.
 
Doesn't flight time have more to do with wind currents or something along those lines?
I recall every time I flew back and forth to England, it took longer going one way than the other.
 
Ronnie Jersey said:
Doesn't flight time have more to do with wind currents or something along those lines?
I recall every time I flew back and forth to England, it took longer going one way than the other.
Click to expand...
Yes, flying between the US and UK takes different amounts of time.
There must be something going on to make that possible.
 
Accounts of air combat in WW1 often refer to the disadvantage the allied planes had trying to return Westward against the prevailing wind. Probably a big factor in British "Ace" Lanoe Hawker being downed by von Richtofen. (If you've seen the film the plane Hawker was flying was a DH2 far more primitive than the film version.)
 
Tunn11 said:
I've always wonderd what effect the Earth's movement would have on teleportation as well. Not just rotation but its movement through space. (Sorry that's a different question)
Click to expand...
Larry Niven's "Known Space" stories addressed this. Because of differing angular momentum and the general movement of Earth through space, teleporting long distances on Earth required adding or removing energy from the teleported person. This was solved, IIRC, by having a huge weight floating in liquid at the teleportation central office that absorbed and flattened out the differences across the teleport booth network.
 
ChasFink said:
Larry Niven's "Known Space" stories addressed this. Because of differing angular momentum and the general movement of Earth through space, teleporting long distances on Earth required adding or removing energy from the teleported person. This was solved, IIRC, by having a huge weight floating in liquid at the teleportation central office that absorbed and flattened out the differences across the teleport booth network.
Click to expand...
And hoping that none of your atoms try to occupy the same space as one already there.... I'd forgotten that in Niven's known space. Those stories need a film/TV series.
 
Tunn11 said:
And hoping that none of your atoms try to occupy the same space as one already there.... I'd forgotten that in Niven's known space. Those stories need a film/TV series.
Click to expand...
The short story "The Soft Weapon" was adapted into a Star Trek animated episode (notably the only one Kirk didn't appear in) and therefore introduced the Kzinti and (extinct) Slavers into the Trek universe. But I agree, a series would be great!
 
A 200 mph tailwind will make a plane’s ground speed at 705 mph.

Going with a tailwind puts no stress or problems on a plane.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top