Why would planes fly in a straight line?

When traditional flat maps are made, distortions occur when the sphere is made flat. Those flight paths that don’t appear straight on a flat map will look quite straight if you look at them on a globe. Instead of relying on flat maps, airplanes follow “great circle” routes that account for the curvature of the Earth.

Why do airplanes prefer the shortest route while Travelling from one place to another?

The reason is simple: The shorter the distance, the less fuel is used. But once you take a globe model and stretch a string between the two cities, it will become obvious that the plane’s real-life route is, in fact, very close to a line, which is the shortest distance.

Is the shortest path always the fastest?

Clearly shortest path is not fastest path.

Is straight line the shortest distance between 2 points?

The popular definition of a “straight line” as “the shortest distance between two points” is one of the few pieces of mathematical jargon in general circulation in the English language.

Is the shortest path a straight line?

It was Archimedes who first articulated that the shortest path between two points is a straight line. You have most likely heard of the Law of Straight Lines, it’s one of the basic principles of geometry.

Can a plane fly straight up?

If an aircraft has enough Thrust (force) that exceeds the weight (Mass times acceleration of gravity) plus the force of drag of the aircraft, then it can fly straight up, until such time as the engines do not have sufficient thrust due to a lack of oxygen in the atmosphere at that altitude.

Do airplanes fly straight?

Ask the Captain: Why don’t planes fly in a ‘straight line?’ Answer: It is shorter to fly the Great Circle route than a straight line due to the circumference of the earth being so much greater at the equator than near the poles.

What is the shortest connection between two points?

A straight line is the shortest distance between two points.

What do you mean by the shortest route between two places?

(iii) Great Circles are the shortest routes between two places as we can connect any two places on the earth’s surface by the curvature line of the great circle. And this curvature is the smallest possible route between those two places, because this curvature directly connects those places or points.