# question for pilots



## cdestroyer (Aug 9, 2021)

you are flying over the ocean, there is cloud cover and you cannot see the sun but you can see the glow that would be the sun. you have an old mechanical wind up wrist watch.the sun is to your right and the time is 2:45pm..... what direction are you flying??


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> you are flying over the ocean, there is cloud cover and you cannot see the sun but you can see the glow that would be the sun. you have an old mechanical wind up wrist watch.the sun is to your right and the time is 2:45pm..... what direction are you flying??


Not a pilot but it's got me thinking, probably overthinking LOL: 
Wouldn't it depend on time of year? Because my first visual image raised question. Right now at 2:45pm the sun is still more overhead tho i suppose if it was to my right i'd still be flying same direction as when it's lower in the sky. Plus it's path is from NE to SW, which means if answering for today it's not the simple answer of South. would only be that simple near the equinoxes. 

I do hope that regardless of other responses you'll correct my reasoning if need be.


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## SmoothSeas (Aug 9, 2021)

I'll admit, I'm curious...  what prompted this question?

Needing help with your homework?  A writer needin' help with a plot-twist?

My grandma usta chide me, that my insatiable curiosity could land in me in trouble.  Admittedly, it sometimes did...


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

Oh and i was talking to my Daughter about it and we realized that the latitude you departed from might make a difference cause different times of year the sun at very different angle in relation to planet at say the Poles or nearer them?


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

SmoothSeas said:


> I'll admit, I'm curious...  what prompted this question?
> 
> Needing help with your homework?  A writer needin' help with a plot-twist?
> 
> My grandma usta chide me, that my insatiable curiosity could land in me in trouble.  Admittedly, it sometimes did...


Oh yes.  My Dad always encouraged my curiosity, Mom worried about the trouble it could get me into.  

Watch it could turn out to be riddle or trick question.  Tho pilots will get it.


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## ohioboy (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> you are flying over the ocean, there is cloud cover and you cannot see the sun but you can see the glow that would be the sun. you have an old mechanical wind up wrist watch.the sun is to your right and the time is 2:45pm..... what direction are you flying??


What Ocean? Planes do not fly over the Pacific.


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> What Ocean? Planes do not fly over the Pacific.


Yes some do, tho apparently airlines prefer to go over Atlantic for some reason. But i've flown to and from Hawaii...that's crossing half the Pacific by plane. And i'm pretty sure Japanese tourists to Hawaii just fly the other half to get there not 3/4s of way around the globe.


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## hollydolly (Aug 9, 2021)

You need to tag our resident ex pilot.. @oldman


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## cdestroyer (Aug 9, 2021)

sheesh!!!!! okay next question.... If I am walking down the street and catch my foot and fall down,,, which way is up?


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> sheesh!!!!! okay next question.... If I am walking down the street and catch my foot and fall down,,, which way is up?


At least we got some mental exercise *trying* to figure it out. LOL.


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## ohioboy (Aug 9, 2021)

feywon said:


> Yes some do, tho apparently airlines prefer to go over Atlantic for some reason. But i've flown to and from Hawaii...that's crossing half the Pacific by plane. And i'm pretty sure Japanese tourists to Hawaii just fly the other half to get there not 3/4s of way around the globe.


I know about mainland to Hawaii, what I meant, but was not clear about it, say CA to Asia, they fly a curvature route.


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## feywon (Aug 9, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> I know about mainland to Hawaii, what I meant, but was not clear about it, say CA to Asia, they fly a curvature route.


No worries we all do things like that sometimes.


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## Time Waits 4 No Man (Aug 9, 2021)

ohioboy said:


> What Ocean? Planes do not fly over the Pacific.


Many don't but some do, according to this statement:



> "So what’s up with that? Why don’t planes fly over the Pacific Ocean? Well, of course, some planes fly over the Pacific. Lots of them, really. I mean, there’s no way you can get to Hawaii from anywhere else without flying over the ocean. *Flights between the U.S. & Australia or New Zealand go directly over the Pacific waters, too*."  *LINK*


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## Lewkat (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> you are flying over the ocean, there is cloud cover and you cannot see the sun but you can see the glow that would be the sun. you have an old mechanical wind up wrist watch.the sun is to your right and the time is 2:45pm..... what direction are you flying??


You'd be heading south with the sun on your right after noon.


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## ohioboy (Aug 9, 2021)

Right, LA to Singapore IS a curvature route, but the straight line between the U.S. mainland to Asia is longer than the great circle route. So, due to the Earth's rotation they have to make allowance.


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## Irwin (Aug 9, 2021)

Time Waits 4 No Man said:


> Many don't but some do, according to this statement:


I took that flight from Los Angeles to Singapore. There was a stop in Japan. Gawd, that was a horrible flight! I'm 6'1" and the planes were obviously designed for smaller stature Japanese and Singaporeans. Plus there was horrible turbulence over the ocean, which all this time I thought was the Pacific, but after reading this thread, I'm not so sure.


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## cdestroyer (Aug 9, 2021)

so if you today can figure out what direction you are flying why could not experienced navy pilots back in 1945 flight 19?


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## ohioboy (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> so if you today can figure out what direction you are flying why could not experienced navy pilots back in 1945 flight 19?


The Bermuda Triangle has many mysteries of why pilots get disoriented in direction, so did "Wrong Way Feldman".


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## Chet (Aug 9, 2021)

This thread reminds me of a book I read about the bombing of Germany in WWII. One of the fighter pilots accompanying the bombers was involved in a dogfight with a German fighter and had his instruments including compass shot up. When it was time to return back to England, he had no compass to direct him. His radio still worked so he called for assistance. Another American pilot answered and told him to position his plane so that the sun was on a particular rivet in his canopy. It worked and he made it back.


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## bowmore (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> so if you today can figure out what direction you are flying why could not experienced navy pilots back in 1945 flight 19?


The theory was the flight leader had recently come from the Gulf Coast, so land was to the North rather than to the West


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## Irwin (Aug 9, 2021)

cdestroyer said:


> so if you today can figure out what direction you are flying why could not experienced navy pilots back in 1945 flight 19?


They became disoriented and didn't trust their gauges in the inclement weather. That's the same thing that happed to JFK Jr and he met with the same fate. Aircraft gauges are extremely reliable, but sometimes, pilots trust their gut instincts more.


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