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If an aircraft flies with it's belly facing the earth (or "Blue side up"), the how can it fly around the world without flying inverted?

thales727
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  • Possible duplicate of Can large airliners do aerobatics such as loops? You might also want to ask some questions on physics.SE about how gravity works. – Pondlife Jul 13 '16 at 15:13
  • Because your frame of reference moves with you. – Ron Beyer Jul 13 '16 at 15:39
  • what is a "frame of reference"? – thales727 Jul 13 '16 at 15:51
  • Possible duplicate of Do pilots adjust the aircraft's flight path to allow for the curvature of the Earth? – fooot Jul 13 '16 at 15:51
  • @thales727 This is much better suited to a physics site. A frame of reference is a relative coordinate system. Just like "up" is the same in antartica as it is in the north pole, the difference is your frame of reference. In the image above, the FoR is something in space, like the moon. If you were in the aircraft, the FoR would be your place in the plane. By the way, FL430 is not considered "extreme low earth orbit" just like 8 inches off the ground isn't "ultimate low earth orbit". – Ron Beyer Jul 13 '16 at 15:53
  • Use the centre of the Earth as your frame of reference. Gravity always acts (to all practical purposes) towards the centre of the Earth. Therefore, the "belly" of the aircraft is always pointing down. You can get many good answers here, it's simply true that you will get more, and better ones, at Physics.SE since this is a question of physics, and not aerodynamics. Ron Beyers answer is a good one. The frame of reference you are using it outside the system – Simon Jul 13 '16 at 16:25
  • As others have mentioned this is a classic frame of reference problem in physics, perhaps second only to the Einstein on a skateboard joke (Professor Einstein enters the classroom on a skateboard and asks who is moving - the students declare that he is, and he responds that from his perspective he's standing still and they're all moving around him before launching into a discussion of special relativity.) See also: Bob Hoover pouring iced tea upside down during a roll. – voretaq7 Jul 13 '16 at 16:28

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