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Old December 5th 06, 06:45 PM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Mxsmanic
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Posts: 9,169
Default A question I'm embarrased to ask - earth's spin

xerj writes:

I was talking about Coriolis effect with someone and he asked me about
planes against or with the earth's spin of around 1000mph at the equator.


The Coriolis effect is never a factor for east-west movement along the
Equator.

Additionally, the Coriolis effect due to the Earth's rotation is too
small to have a significant effect on an aircraft.

He asked why this didn't benefit east to west plane travel timewise
and hurt west to east.


The Coriolis effect is not a factor for east-west movement along the
Equator.

Aircraft travelling in the direction of the Earth's rotation weigh
slightly less than aircraft travelling in the opposite direction
because of centrifugal acceleration, but that is unrelated to the
Coriolis effect and is too small to worry about in practice.

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