Why don’t planes just hover in place?

Like, instead of speeding forward, why don’t they just stay still at high altitude and wait for the Earth to rotate underneath?

It would cost way less in fuel and still be just as fast.

a person who thinks all the time ahh

please tell me this is bait

Maniacwolf [#3]

please tell me this is bait

why would this be bait?

Ahh you know that .…......

It won't work because the earth is flat bro.

How do you know they don't already do this?

Because inertia exists

isn't this how a space shuttle works

what

Zerphyr1 [#4]

why would this be bait?

You can’t escape the inertia of the earth rotating till you’re in space. You could potentially do this with a rocket ship but rn it’s more fuel efficient to just fly. The planes don’t actually use too much fuel once they’re in the sky so it’s already pretty economical based on speed and distance

well we are tied to earth's gravity, so we move at the same rate as the rotation of the earth. if you are sufficiently far from the earth, you can get locked in one position in earth's orbit, and this is called being geostationary. this is when your orbit around the earth is the same as the earth's spin, so you are stuck suspended at a set position relative to the earth. if you go beyond this, you can exit earth's orbit and use the earth's spin to travel. but this is, in most terms, considered space. so too high for planes.

lmao

It's very rare to see smart people like this guy in vlr

Maniacwolf [#11]

You can’t escape the inertia of the earth rotating till you’re in space. You could potentially do this with a rocket ship but rn it’s more fuel efficient to just fly. The planes don’t actually use too much fuel once they’re in the sky so it’s already pretty economical based on speed and distance

we got Mr Plane Guy over here

shai0 [#15]

we got Mr Plane Guy over here

me when I am homeschooled

229fn [#9]

isn't this how a space shuttle works

Smart boy :3

Because you are still in orbit. Meaning the gravity will make you rotate alonside earth

shai0 [#15]

we got Mr Plane Guy over here

Mr Not A Plane Guy when he finds the existence of gravity
https://tenor.com/view/zoolander-meme-lightskin-stare-owen-wilson-ben-stiller-gif-27270450

Also don't forget the fact that planes can only fly by using lift. meaning the air running over and under the wing are what keep it airborne. So even if it could somehow stay stationary in terms of the earth's rotation it would still need to use fuel to "hover" in place. unless you just use a helicopter

If gravity and the earths rotation worked like that when we jump we would instantly faceplant into a building 💀

Maniacwolf [#11]

You can’t escape the inertia of the earth rotating till you’re in space. You could potentially do this with a rocket ship but rn it’s more fuel efficient to just fly. The planes don’t actually use too much fuel once they’re in the sky so it’s already pretty economical based on speed and distance

but you are forgetting about the clouds. You see just like in heaven the planes could simply land on a cloud and then wait a bit and then fly back off the cloud.