Travelling westward vs Earth rotation W to E

[al_madhi]

Hi , ppl I am just curious , I remeber when I used to travel a lot from the gulf area middel east to N.Y. USA in the 1980s across Europe and Atlantic ocean , every time the the pilot tell the passengers that we are travelling against the winds ( commercial winds which blow from the west to the east ) and it will take longer time to reach destination and fuel consumption , it took 13 & 1/2 hours non-stop to reach N.Y. from the gulf . and in the way back , the plane is travelling with the winds which push the plane eastwards , it took only 12 hours to reach the gulf . regarding the above my curiosity is this as the plane is travelling weatwards , Earth is moving in the oppsite direction of the plane ( Earth rotates from west to east ) . But the plane is still in the atmosphere at 40 thousands ft above the ground , and it will move with the Earth in the same time from west to east against its travel from east to west , during more than half a day ( 13 & 1/2 hours ) journey . Do you consider this another factor against the travel of the plane the same as the commercial winds which blow in the oppsite direction of the plane's travel .


Any thoughts you would have be greatly appreciated .


cheers

 

[Channel Hopper]

Oh yes, wind from the simple fact the Earth is turning anticlockwise (looking from the North pole). On 90% of all flights across the Atlantic, it will take more fuel to arrive at the same time, or the flight will be about an hour longer. Slipstreams only have the advantage when they are working for you, which is why pilots will be in some way responsible for dictating the altitude the plane travels at, even moving away from the shortest distance (great circle ) to get a benefit.

Nowadays, fuel is more important than timing, hence the increase in delays you will get at airports.

 

[spiney]

In The Good Olden Days, didn't sailing ships use the trade winds, blowing westerly in Northern hemisphere and Easterly in Southern one?

After the world's oil runs out, maybe we'll be returning to that!

 

[Channel Hopper]

In The Good Olden Days, didn't sailing ships use the trade winds, blowing westerly in Northern hemisphere and Easterly in Southern one?

After the world's oil runs out, maybe we'll be returning to that!

Quite possibly, but since each time a wind generator goes up, the Earths rotation slows down as a result, its only a short term gap.
Ill pull out the plans for the transporter pods later.

 

[spiney]

Personally, I much liked Arthur C Clarke's predicition that roads - and traffic jams - would become obsolete, because we'd all be getting around on personal hovercraft!

Just how wrong can you be??!!

 

[Channel Hopper]

How does one get personal with a hovercraft ?

 

[-RTFM-]

How does one get personal with a hovercraft ?

lift the skirt up...

 

[haggard]

Hi , ppl I am just curious , I remeber when I used to travel a lot from the gulf area middel east to N.Y. USA in the 1980s across Europe and Atlantic ocean , every time the the pilot tell the passengers that we are travelling against the winds ( commercial winds which blow from the west to the east ) and it will take longer time to reach destination and fuel consumption , it took 13 & 1/2 hours non-stop to reach N.Y. from the gulf . and in the way back , the plane is travelling with the winds which push the plane eastwards , it took only 12 hours to reach the gulf . regarding the above my curiosity is this as the plane is travelling weatwards , Earth is moving in the oppsite direction of the plane ( Earth rotates from west to east ) . But the plane is still in the atmosphere at 40 thousands ft above the ground , and it will move with the Earth in the same time from west to east against its travel from east to west , during more than half a day ( 13 & 1/2 hours ) journey . Do you consider this another factor against the travel of the plane the same as the commercial winds which blow in the oppsite direction of the plane's travel .


Any thoughts you would have be greatly appreciated .


cheers

Just noticed this, especially the last question.
If on the equator, the plane is rotating with the earth before take off at a speed of 24 thousand miles (Earth circumference) per day, i.e. 1000 mph. (less than 1000 if not on equator). So is the atmosphere. So irrespective of whether the plane wants to go E or W, it has to add its own speed to that of the rotation in order to move relative to its original position. Physics-speak, angular momentum is conserved, so that rotation speed cannot just disappear.

 

[Topper]

Slipstreams only have the advantage when they are working for you

Gee and I thought slipstreams were fast conduits through wormholes in science fiction programs....:-bash Everytime time I fly longhaul I make sure the pilot gets the plane into the jetstream lol O-Ha and if he ain't going there I'm not getting on.

 

[spiney]

Here's a link to a trade winds pic:

www.newmediastudio.org/DataDiscovery/Hurr_ED_Center/Easterly_Waves/Trade_Winds/Trade_Winds_fig03.jpg .

I assume North Altlantic flights take place in the "tropical easterlies"?