"xerj" wrote in message
...
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.
He asked why this didn't benefit east to west plane travel timewise and
hurt west to east. I couldn't give him a straight answer, and felt like an
idiot when I said "it just doesn't".

What IS the straight answer? The dropping something in a moving vehicle
analogy doesn't work, does it? A plane has a method of acceleration,
whereas a passively dropped object doesn't.

Sometimes really simple questions can give you the worst time.

Hi xerj,
I think this is a great question. Back in the [Harumph!] old
days when I learned to fly we were taught in Metorlogy 101 that one indirect
way coriolis force DOES affect east or west airtravel is what it does to the
weather.

The following is quoted from:

TODAY'S TMJ4 WEATHER PLUS; Coriolis force affects wind patterns
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The, Sep 18, 2006 by MIKE LAPOINT

"When looking down at the North Pole, Earth spins counterclockwise around
its axis. A point on the equator travels about 1,100 mph, while the points
directly at the poles do not move at all. An apparent force called the
Coriolis force results from this difference in speeds, deflecting objects to
the right in the Northern Hemisphere and to the left in the Southern
Hemisphere. The Coriolis force, combined with solar heating patterns across
Earth, creates distinctive wind patterns that drive weather systems.
One prevailing surface wind pattern that results is in the mid- latitudes,
between 30 and 60 degrees north. Solar heating alone, without Earth's
rotation, would produce prevailing southerly winds. The Coriolis force,
however, deflects these winds to the right, creating prevailing winds out of
the west and southwest known as the westerlies."

So, while coriolis has only a small direct affect, the winds can be a huge
factor in slowing aircraft down on westerly flights. The above is just one
of a bunch of hits from Google about coriolis force and the weather.