Let’s assume 30,000 feet
When in the cruising altitude in an airliner how many miles of land can you see? How far is the horizon?
6 Responses to “When in the cruising altitude in an airliner how many miles of land can you see? How far is the horizon?”
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maybe 25 miles (depends also on visibility)
Certainly more than 25 miles. On an aircraft carrier, we used TACAN to point to other ships in our battle group 17 miles away, TACAN gave us bearing and distance. At sea level, we were able to see these ships with the naked eye.
this is a simple ‘line of sight’ problem that can be figured by finding the length of the longest leg of the triangle if the right angle is the altitude, the base is the ground and the longest leg is the sight distance to the horizon
use the 3 to 1 rule.
on the ground, during clear weather with unlimited visibility and no obstructions, your viewing distance is 50 miles.
for each mile up. you see 3 miles farther.
It is found with this formula
1.25 * sqrt(height AGL)= distance (in nautical miles).
So….
1.25*sqrt(30000 feet) = 216 nautical miles.
To convert nautical to statute miles, multiply by 1.15.
216*1.15 = 248 miles.
This is assuming unlimited visibility, which pretty much never occurs.
Horizon distance in nautical miles = 1.15?(altitude in feet).