[Alpha2Bravo]

Hi Guys, I am a newbie so hopefully you will go easy on me.
As a professional pilot, we have to navigate up in the sky and rely on GPS as our primary navigation tool.
The units take thier signals from both SBAS (Satellite based navigation system) and GBAS (Ground based navigation system)
Without going too deep, If the earth was actually flat, then if one were to fly from a point on the equator, lets say at 053n0000w which is just east of Accra International airport and exactly on a meridian of longitude.
If you were to fly 500nm north on the meridian, then turn left and fly 500nm west on a constant heading then 500nm south and finally 500nm east.
Were the flat earth theory to hold any water, then the aircraft would end up exactly back where it started.
In real life, this simply isnt the case.
I note there are many references in the respective arguments that reference aviation so I am happy to try to assist if possible.

[robinofloxley]

Hi Guys, I am a newbie so hopefully you will go easy on me.
As a professional pilot, we have to navigate up in the sky and rely on GPS as our primary navigation tool.
The units take thier signals from both SBAS (Satellite based navigation system) and GBAS (Ground based navigation system)
Without going too deep, If the earth was actually flat, then if one were to fly from a point on the equator, lets say at 053n0000w which is just east of Accra International airport and exactly on a meridian of longitude.
If you were to fly 500nm north on the meridian, then turn left and fly 500nm west on a constant heading then 500nm south and finally 500nm east.
Were the flat earth theory to hold any water, then the aircraft would end up exactly back where it started.
In real life, this simply isnt the case.
I note there are many references in the respective arguments that reference aviation so I am happy to try to assist if possible.

Taking the AE flat earth map (North Polar Azimuthal Equidistant) as an example (caveat, there is no universal agreement on any map within the FE community, but the AE is often used), if you follow your route, you won't end up where you started either. Flying due East or West on an AE map means (as I understand it) following a curved trajectory around a circle of latitude, just as you would on a globe.

A variation of your example would be to fly 500nm North, then 1000nm West, 1000nm South, 1000nm East and finally 500nm North. On a globe, if your departure point was on the equator, then you would end up at your starting point. On a flat earth, at least on the AE map, you wouldn't.