Educate me, coriolis effect, longest sniper shot, flying

[cgrab]

Back to the OP...we were not taught to correct for the Coriolis effect but do have a drift calculation much like the artillery folks have alluded to because of the spin imparted to the bullet. As others have said, Coriolis effect is dependent on direction of flight. I don't recall using the compass to enter the correction tables in my training. Of course, the longest shot I ever took was 1000 yards at Quantico.

 

[Clark1961]

I've been reading about what folks are calling Coriolis effect, namely the change in bullet drop when shooting east or west, and am glad to report that is not a Coriolis effect. It is an Eötvös effect. I'm glad I can now say that because there is no way to twist the the Coriolis effect to have an impact on bullet drop. I didn't doubt the observations just doubted the explanation since the definition of Coriolis effect is fairly straightforward and readily observable in wind patterns.

I'll report back on the Eötvös effect as I learn more...

 

[Clark1961]

Eötvös Effect is the change in perceived gravitational force acting on objects which have east or west velocity. A bullet traveling east is lighter than a bullet traveling west even though the mass does not change. This makes sense when thinking about orbital velocity since objects on orbit have essentially zero weight. Of course that little comparison hits a bump in the road when ya think about a west to east orbit so don't think about it too much.

Anyway, the effect was identified by observing objects' weights while traveling due east and due west. Some Germans were collecting data and some Hungarian guy was able to 'splain their observations.

Edit: and you will weigh more at the north or South Pole than you will at the equator so everyone who wants to lose weight should move to the equator or use a scale adjusted to read equatorial weight.

 

[BigBadLou]

Its a frame of reference problem.

^^^^ That.

I thought his discovery of the self-picking apple tree was brilliant. No illegal aliens on ladders. Just harvest the fruit while sitting in the orchard reading a book (these days wearing an OSHA approved hardhat on the jobsite of course).

They are called "undocumented workers", you racist bigot. Sheesh, they will allow just any insensitive slur on the forums these days.

I guess I'm not as smart as Newton. Sad.

NONE of us here are!

You realize I was talking about the airplane, and not the bullet, right? Last time I flew cross-country, I did not have to calculate Coriolis effect in order to determine my heading and ETA to my destination accurately.

Since most aircraft do not fly as fast as bullets and their flight path is subjected to a lot of imperfections (including wind) over long periods of time, the effect of Coriolis force on aircraft is immeasurable to us mortals.

 

[Sac Arrow]

F'ing Eötvös. I've always maintained that he was trying to grab a piece of the pie from Coriolis. Go figure.

 

[Cooter]

F'ing Eötvös. I've always maintained that he was trying to grab a piece of the pie from Coriolis. Go figure.

HA! You confused Eötvös with Coriolis!! What a rookie. I'm surprised you haven't run your airplane out of gas making that stupid mistake.