Can somone explain to me what a nautical mile is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_mile

 

Google, it's a wonderful tool.

"The nautical mile was historically defined as a minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth"

 

i am confused as to why they used it for aircrafts!

"The nautical mile was historically defined as a minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth"

 

i am confused as to why they used it for aircrafts!

 

Maybe for its military origins?

 

Cheers,

 

Ryan Jones

"The nautical mile was historically defined as a minute of arc along a great circle of the Earth"

 

i am confused as to why they used it for aircrafts!

Aircraft also measure speed as land speed, so it makes sense. Well, as much as any arbitrary decision on how to measure something makes sense. There's a lot of inventor saying "let's use X system" and it just sticks .. you've seen how resistant to change us humans are

but isn't the distance from "A" to "B" by air longer than by land?

but isn't the distance from "A" to "B" by air longer than by land?

Indeed it is, and the higher you fly, the greater that distance. But do you have any idea how difficult it is to accurately measure distance while flying? Any reasonable ability is very new in terms of flight and certainly not available when it was decided how to measure.

 

You have to look at the history behind decisions or just simply consider the era they were made and suddenly much can make sense even if you don't hit 100% spot on without additional research.