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The great-circle distance, orthodromic distance, or spherical distance is the distance between two points on a sphere, measured along the great-circle arc between them. This arc is the shortest path between the two points on the surface of the sphere.
Simply, when plotting a course over a distance of 500 miles or more it usually makes sense to travel a ‘ Great Circle ’ route between origin and destination as it will be a shorter distance over the surface of the planet than the straight route - also known as the Rhumb Line.
Choosing the shortest flight route is important to save both time and fuel. Here you can learn all about how great circle navigation helps the aviation industry to optimize its paths and why the shortest routes are usually displayed as an arc in a map.
5 lip 2019 · The takeaway is this: A route that looks longer on the map is because of the distortion created by map projections like the Mercator Projection. In navigation, pilots often use great circles (geodesic) as the shortest distance flight.
5 maj 2015 · The shortest distance between two points is a straight line, but when a line on a globe is shown on a two-dimensional map, it looks like an arc. The solid line is the actual flight path, the red dashed line is the Great Circle route between Chicago and Dubai.
Great circle route, the shortest course between two points on the surface of a sphere. It lies in a plane that intersects the sphere’s centre and was known by mathematicians before the time of Columbus.
The great circle distance is useful to evaluate the shortest path when intercontinental distances are concerned. It follows the sphericity of the globe; any shortest route is the one following the curve of the planet, along the parallels.
