why the flights fly close to greenland and move south to cross atlantic?

s x · 01-17-2008, 08:21 AM

when flying from europe to new york flights doesnot fly across atlantic ocean they go north towards greenland and then come south over canadian coast

jimschem · 01-17-2008, 09:18 AM

On a plane (absolutely flat) surface the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
On the surface of a sphere (like the earth's surface) the shortest distance between two points is along a great circle. A great circle of a sphere is the lagest circle that can be drawn on the surface of a sphere. The earth's equator is a great circle. Parallels of longitude are all great circles going through both poles. To save fuel and flight time jetliners fly along a portion of a great circle and not along some line drawn on a 2-dimensional map.
Consecuntly a plane flying from Anchorage Alaska non-stop to St. Petersburg Russia will fly directly over the north pole of the earth.
Find these two cities on a globe or at least a world map.

Hope this helps :-)

01-17-2008, 08:21 AM	#1 (permalink)
s x Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1	why the flights fly close to greenland and move south to cross atlantic? when flying from europe to new york flights doesnot fly across atlantic ocean they go north towards greenland and then come south over canadian coast

01-17-2008, 09:18 AM	#2 (permalink)
jimschem Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 1	On a plane (absolutely flat) surface the shortest distance between two points is a straight line. On the surface of a sphere (like the earth's surface) the shortest distance between two points is along a great circle. A great circle of a sphere is the lagest circle that can be drawn on the surface of a sphere. The earth's equator is a great circle. Parallels of longitude are all great circles going through both poles. To save fuel and flight time jetliners fly along a portion of a great circle and not along some line drawn on a 2-dimensional map. Consecuntly a plane flying from Anchorage Alaska non-stop to St. Petersburg Russia will fly directly over the north pole of the earth. Find these two cities on a globe or at least a world map. Hope this helps :-)