NOTE: The following discussion addresses the idea that airplanes are calibrated to follow the imaginary curvature of the Earth by utilizing such controls and gauges as Elevators, Trim, Nose Angle, Deck Angle, and Barometric Pressure Altimeter readings.
When the pilot is on the ground, setting his altimeter for barometric pressure and the altitude, what reference frame is providing the baseline for altitude or elevation?
Can we say SEA LEVEL?
And the artificial horizon is referencing the horizon… the surface of earth… where the sky and ground appear to converge at eye level.
Down on a sphere is every point on the surface that has a vertical vector pointing to the center of the sphere. If the altimeter were calibrated to follow the “curve” then the zeroing out of the altimeter would have to include the radius of the earth/sphere, not the surface as it’s reference frame.
I agree that this isn’t a solid FE proof. A much better one is to simply cite the dozens of nasa and DOD technical papers on flight that all use the “motionless flat earth assumption.”
When the pilot is on the ground, setting his altimeter for barometric pressure and the altitude, what reference frame is providing the baseline for altitude or elevation?
Can we say SEA LEVEL?
And the artificial horizon is referencing the horizon… the surface of earth… where the sky and ground appear to converge at eye level.
Down on a sphere is every point on the surface that has a vertical vector pointing to the center of the sphere. If the altimeter were calibrated to follow the “curve” then the zeroing out of the altimeter would have to include the radius of the earth/sphere, not the surface as it’s reference frame.
I agree that this isn’t a solid FE proof. A much better one is to simply cite the dozens of nasa and DOD technical papers on flight that all use the “motionless flat earth assumption.”