geographic/geometric theory for a plane that flies from England to NY via Iceland instead of England direct NY

Answer 1

Your thinking of the Great circle route. Pull a string (tight) between NY and London on a globe (Not a map). This will be the shortest possible route between the two cities. You might be suprised that the the path is constantly varying in heading ,(It will not go quite as far North as Iceland though). . The great circle route is always a portion of a circle that goes completely around the earth around its entire circumference. A great circle route between Moscow and New York WILL go through Iceland though. A great circle route between New York and Bejing will actually pass over the North Pole.
The equator is the only great circle route that will take you all the way around the world by maintaining the same compass heading

Answer 2

That's a poorly worded question, if it is a question!

Anyway, I think stvrob_63 has given a very clear and concise answer. A plane that flies direct from England to NY will not pass over Iceland, but a plane going to Seattle or Vancouver will.

The earth is not flat, therefore maps and atlases are deceiving. Get a globe to see how this all works. Imagine trying to peel an orange and lay the orange peels on a flat table, same difference.

Answer 3

I'm not entirely sure that this is what the question is asking, but I believe it's talking about Great Circles. It has to do with the Earth being a sphere. For the plane to fly in a straight line, it would have to descend in altitude for half the fly then reascend towards the end (because a straight line with an end the same height above both destinations is tangent to the Earth's surface). This takes a lot more energy; for one because the air is a lot denser lower down, and because the plane has to fight against gravity to ascend again. Thus, it makes more sense to fly parallel to the Earth's surface as if it was going to make a circular orbit around the center of the earth connecting the two locations.

Answer 4

Inquiring about the idea of the great circl route? Look at a globe, not a flat map, andnotice the distance you would have to travel if you went directly east/west instead of the great circle. On a flat map the great cicle route looks like it takes a long time.