The Great Circle

[Down and Welded]

Will be CX from HKG to EWR and YVR to HKG. Can anyone describe the routes flown?

[jimjim1]

Here are the flight paths taken by a recent Hong Kong to Newark flight according to flightradar24.

Filter on the CallSign CPA890 then play back at the appropriate time. fr24 times are UTC so you have to work that out.

A vancouver flight has callsign CPA819 15:05 local scheduled departure, exercise left to reader.

Unfortunately I lost some resolution in the screenshots. My slow PC takes a while to do these so I won't repeat the job. The black dashed sections are automatic fill-in due to the aircraft being out of range of any ground station.

By the way not everybody knows every airport code, if you know the plaintext please use it as well as the supercool crypto.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/606x342/hkg_ewr_all_a13b5ba077b4e1c05f6834ef018fa0a44941193f.png
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/606x342/hkg_ewr_detail_62894ca4eb00cdce0e797f325f92fa8efb1e28d5.png

[jimjim1]

Here is the great circle hkg-ewr. Hmmm quite a different route!

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/779x713/hkg_ewr_great_9cea30df82db0b3f5719aea9ce9e12665d618256.png

[Down and Welded]

Thanks jimjim1. You're right, the Great Circle Mapper shows a direct route that crosses Russia and passes abeam the Noth Pole (by about 340 m). FR tracks are indeed quite different. Thanks for the reminder. I understand your suggestion re the codes, but thinking about it, I figure if you use the city/airport name, you don't need the code, right? So it's one or the other. Use of the codes just clicks into my brain, so I use it. I reckon--since this is an aviation-oriented website-- that aviation-oriented people will mostly be here and won't mind looking up any code with which they're unfamiliar, and thereby learn it. But thanks again for the response. I'm off to FlightRadar for a look.

[jimjim1]

I figure if you use the city/airport name, you don't need the code, right? So it's one or the other. Use of the codes just clicks into my brain, so I use it.

I had to use both to accomplish the job above.

I first used google to verify all the codes 'cos I wasn't 100% on them and had no clue about Vancouver.
I used skyscanner to get the flight numbers using real airport names.
I then tried the flight number CX890 as the call sign as a FR24 filter - no good.
Next I put in EWR as a filter in FR24 and searched for the HK flight on the map. From that I found the Callsign.

It's a lot of digging and it would have helped to have the full details in the original post. I just did it for the entertainment:-)

Anyway, I am done with that topic. Good luck on the flights.

[DaveReidUK]

I then tried the flight number CX890 as the call sign as a FR24 filter - no good.

I don't see why that wouldn't work. A Google search for FR24 CX890 finds the flight history as the first hit.

Incidentally, a Google search for "flights from [departure airport code or name] to [arrival airport ditto]" (omitting the brackets) will tell you which carriers fly any route, and you can easily drill down to find the flight numbers concerned.

[Dannyboy39]

CX have a number of different options for this route - up to 3-4 variants depending on time of year and winds etc. It can go the Pacific Route or the Polar Route for instance.

For me, this is a real filip for Airbus having produced an airliner as resolute as this.

[jimjim1]

I don't see why that wouldn't work. A Google search for FR24 CX890 finds the flight history as the first hit.

Incidentally, a Google search for "flights from [departure airport code or name] to [arrival airport ditto]" (omitting the brackets) will tell you which carriers fly any route, and you can easily drill down to find the flight numbers concerned.

Thanks,

Yup, CX890 does work as a Callsign filter in FR24. I guess I was too impatient. It seems to take quite a few seconds to come up with the flight in playback mode on my slow PC and internet. Or maybe I pressed the wrong mutton.