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Re: If The Earth Was Spinning, This Guy Could Stay Right Here For 12 Hours
And Land On The Other Side Of The Planet.
While the chopper was on the ground, it was moving east to west at the
same surface velocity as the Earth's rotational speed at the pilot's latitude.
For argument's sake, let's say the Earth's surface speed at the pilot's
latitude is 800 mph (it's 1,040 at the equator). So when the chopper lifted
off to hover, the ground didn't suddenly zip away from under it because the
chopper and the ground were synchronized at 800 mph.
Plus, the atmosphere isn't independent. Gravity sticks the atmosphere to the
Earth like a coat of paint just as it sticks water to the Earth like a coat of
paint, i.e. while the Earth is spinning, it carries the atmosphere right along
it. Aside from local weather conditions; the atmosphere at our pilot's location
would be synchronized with the Earth at 800 mph.
So then, hovering choppers don't stand still in time and space while the
Earth turns under them. No; they, the Earth, and the atmosphere, are all
synchronized together. We don't notice all that of course because we on
the ground are synchronized with the Earth's rotation too.
So then: in 12 hours-- if they don't run out of fuel --choppers will remain
right where they lifted off, i.e. their position in the air relative to the ground
won't change at all because gravity won't permit.
* It's been my experience that flat-earth folks typically neglect gravity in
their thinking, and seem unaware that all matter on Earth is subject to
gravity, even the very air we breathe and the water we drink.
_