People baffled as to why flying against the Earth’s rotation doesn’t speed up flights

Air travel is one of those things that if you start thinking about it too much, you’ll never want to step foot on a plane again.

We know that science has all the answers, but it’s still hard to get your head around how a hunk of metal that has wings attached somehow flies through the skies to drop a load of passengers off on holiday.

But conspiracy theorists have an even more barmy question for the titans of the travel world – why does flying against the rotation of the Earth not speed up flights?

Although it might sound like these lot just want the pilot to put his foot down so they can sip on a cocktail in the sunshine faster, Flat Earthers reckon it’s some sort of proof that backs up their claims that the earth doesn’t spin at all.

One of the tinfoil hat-wearing members of the Flat Earth Research group shared a post questioning why a jumbo jet doesn’t zoom across the sky if the world is whizzing around at roughly 1,000 miles per hour per second (at the equator).

It read: “Plane flying from east to west at 300 mph…The Earth rotates from west towards east at 1,400 mph under the plane…How does the plane not reach its destination 1,400 mph faster?

“Nor is the return trip longer or shorter. How? Answer: The Earth is not spinning.”

Although they may have considered that case closed, the author of the post would be rudely mistaken.

Do you reckon that a conspiracy theorist who refuses to accept that the globe is not shaped like a plane or disc is any match for the laws of physics?

Not on your nelly!

Flat Earthers reckoned they had proved that the Earth doesn’t spin, until science stepped in (Getty Stock Photos)

Basically, it’s all to do with the fact that an aircraft retains the rotational velocity – aka, how fast an object rotates – of the Earth due to a little old thing called inertia.

Inertia is Isaac Newton‘s first law of motion and refers to the tendency of objects in motion to stay in motion, while remaining in a straight line at the same velocity unless another force intervenes.

Wow, a lot of talk of motion there…but you get my drift.

A real life example of this is when you jump up into the air – you always land exactly where you began, rather than a mile to the west of where you leaped from – as you and the Earth are moving at the same velocity.

To move in another direction, another force needs to be in play to get you there – for example, you jumping forward, or in plane terms, an aircraft expelling mass.

The debate around flying against the rotation of the Earth not speeding up flights was sparked online (Getty Stock Photos)

Planes do this by the engines exerting a force on the exhaust gases to expel them out of the back, which exerts a force in the direction it needs to travel in as they need to expend energy to move.

Aircraft carry the Earth’s rotational speed eastwards, which means that flying west – against the rotation – actually takes a bit longer.

According to Simple Flying: “The reason for quicker flights while flying eastwards is jet streams. Put simply, these are fast-flowing, narrow air currents in the atmosphere found at high altitudes.

“Since the jet streams flow from west to east, they make one leg of the journey much faster (when flying with the stream) and one slower (against the stream).

“Imagine going downstream or upstream a river, or how it feels when you are cycling against the wind, as opposed to when you have it at your back. Returning to the example from New York to London, some flights even take a slightly longer route, specifically to benefit from the jet stream.”

The more you know.

Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Photos

Topics: Travel, News, Weird, Conspiracy Theory, Science