PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - how the ground track of a plane differs from what you appear to see from the ground
Old 3rd January 2016 | 16:36
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wj9315
 
Joined: Jan 2016
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From: lon
how the ground track of a plane differs from what you appear to see from the ground

Hi,
I've been watching the approach path of planes landing at heathrow, and comparing it to what's posted on the webtrak system.

I can't reconcile the two - the path of the webtrak system seems to show a path that is different by as much as 300 metres from the ground.

I've posted what I see from the ground vs. what the webtrak system shows:

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essentially, the webtrak system shows a straight line, whereas what i see from the ground makes it look like the planes are in a completely different path. I understand that this must be some sort of optical illusion - does anyone have any material that allows you to calculate the groundtrack of an aircraft that you are observing in the sky from street level? Please let me know if there's any information i can provide to make this question clearer.
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