Hmmm. I'm a commercial-rated pilot and I loved your comment about the atmosphere "velcro'd to the surface". Ot1h, the vacuum of space is perfectly frictionless, so the friction generated by air's contact with the earth's surface would meet zero resistance at the stratosphere and should spin the atmosphere along with the surface especially if done over millenia. Mostly.
Otoh, 1,000mph (1600kph) is amazingly fast thus storms, hurricanes, jet stream, etc should be disrupting that smooth rotation enough so that it might affect an aircraft's speed Easterly vs. Westerly.
You got me thinking, anyway. Thanks!
1 Comment
Truth Sleuth
- 3 years ago
Hmmm. I'm a commercial-rated pilot and I loved your comment about the atmosphere "velcro'd to the surface". Ot1h, the vacuum of space is perfectly frictionless, so the friction generated by air's contact with the earth's surface would meet zero resistance at the stratosphere and should spin the atmosphere along with the surface especially if done over millenia. Mostly. Otoh, 1,000mph (1600kph) is amazingly fast thus storms, hurricanes, jet stream, etc should be disrupting that smooth rotation enough so that it might affect an aircraft's speed Easterly vs. Westerly. You got me thinking, anyway. Thanks!