Stack, - Attached is a photo of global flight paths and the surrounding temperatures. I highlighted the routes northern and southern planes fly in-between.
I understand that flights take 10+ hours between the southern continents the same as the northern continents. Same distance then? But there is a difference in temperature conditions which need to be considered.
Why does it need to be considered?
All of the flights down south fly in warmer temperatures on average then the northern flights.
How much so? What are the average temperatures at 40,000 feet in each hemisphere? And where in each hemisphere?
This can explain why planes take the same time to travel different distances. Cold air makes planes really fast and warm air slow.
No it doesn't. Colder air makes engines more efficient meaning more thrust and makes for take-offs and landings being shorter. It doesn't make planes fly faster. Where are you getting this information from?
That's why planes go out of there way to fly way north and way south (if possible) to take advantage of colder weather as shown in the attached image.
Where are you getting the information from that planes "fly way north and way south (if possible) to take advantage of colder weather"?
Some say the round flight paths are because the earth is curved and it's a more direct route, but I think it's the weather.
Well you
thinking that is fine. But it's not the documented reason why. And by documented, I mean by the worldwide Airline industry as a whole with data, observations, and tons and tons of real world practical experience and evidence accumulated over decades. Not just one person thinking something.
It's a good explanation I think.
It's not, because all evidence points to a contrary explanation(s).
For distance sake, I'd say keep the ocean distances the same in the Northern Hemisphere where it's been travelled a lot but consider at least a difference down south where weather plays a factor.
The southern hemisphere has been traveled a lot as well. The southern hemisphere is not some "mystery" like it was to Europeans 100's of years ago. I c'mon, It's 2021, not the 1300's.
Your musings are interesting and entertaining. But you need evidence and facts to back them up. And you're trying to ram unfounded explanations into your model just to try and make your model work. When you should be looking at the evidence and facts and adjusting your model accordingly. And as such, you need to reconcile why your distances are way off and examine the cold hard facts as to why that may be rather than making up things like your misconceptions about temperature and its impact on flights. Maybe your map just isn't quite right.