Why it takes 24 hours to fly from Singapore to America when the Earth only takes 12 hours to spin that far?

Question

Why do we need to fly 24 hours even against Earth's rotation from one side of the Earth to the other side when Earth itself takes only 12 hours to make half a rotation. Is the plane actually flying, or decelerating form its orginal rotation speed as the Earth or is it hovering? If you were to hover in a helicopter for 12 hours, and allow Earth to spin below you, will you thus reach your destination half the world away in 12 hours and faster than a plane?

Answer 1

Well, for one you don't escape Earth's relative motion until you leave the atmosphere, so no, a helicopter hovering won't simply have the Earth spin beneath it. Secondly, the airline routes are never straightline.

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

well the plane moves relative to the atmosphere, which moves pretty much with the Earth.

you helicopter example would not work because a helicopter flies in the atmosphere and to do what you want to do, it would need to fly as fast as the Earth rotates. Which is fairly fast - at the equator, it is a little over 1'000 miles per hour.

the same goes for the plane. It flies at a plane speed, say 500 miles per hour, i.e half the speed of the Earth's rotation at the equator (this being said, the direct Singapore NewYork flight on an Airbus A350 takes 18 hours not 24).

you could do your helicopter thing if you flew above the atmosphere, though. Satellites, for one, do this routinely. Geostationary satellites, those high up there, appear to "hover" above a given point because they orbit the Earth at the speed the Earth rotates.

hope this helps

a

Answer 3

To hover above the Earth and wait for your destination to come you would have to move quite a ways above the Earth and out of most of it's gravitational pull. Or waste energy decelerating. You are already moving with the Earth as you sit here and when you move above the ground you are still moving at the same rate as the Earth plus or minus a small amount depending on what direction you are going. The only difference in a plane is that there is less resistance (and fewer obstacles) so you can move somewhat faster than say in a train.

Answer 4

dude, the earth spins faster that a plane can fly. and by the way, i do believe that singapore airlines now flies direct from singapore to new york in 18 hours.

Answer 5

hovering in an helicopter so that your destination comes to you, would mean, you maintain a speed in the opposite direction, ie, a speed equal to earths rotation.Now just check out the speed of earths rotation....u will be astonished :) & imagine maintaining that speed

Answer 6

Please get your facts right...
First of all, you can get a flight San Francisco to Singapore which takes only 19 hours, and secondly, all flights between these 2 destinations don't go direct, but either via Hong Kong, Taipei, or Honolulu, and that wastes time.

Answer 7

very good question. That boogles my mind. lemme get some herbal stimulant and ponder that, and I'll get back to ya. :)