Why does nobody talk about how plane windows stay sealed at 35,000 feet

I tried to explain the curve by matching a flight path to a globe model and got a result that was off by 40 miles. Guess my math skills need work, anyone else run into weird gaps when trying to visualize flight data?

2 comments

Log in to join the discussion

Log In

2 Comments

jason9583mo ago

Wait, 40 miles? That's a huge gap. @kelly.parker nailed it with the map distortion issue, those projections can really mess with your head if you're trying to line things up perfectly.

5

kelly.parker3mo ago

That globe projection issue is exactly the problem. Most flat maps distort distances badly, especially on long flights, so your numbers being off by 40 miles sound about right. The curvature math works fine in real life, but comparing it to a 2D map will always give you weird gaps.

1