Distance

The four longest flights of our trip include the following:

Here are some questions to ponder about these flights:

1. Which flight is the longest? __________________________________
   
   
2. Which flight is the second longest? _______________________________
   

When flying in airplanes and boats, distance is measured in nautical miles. Nautical miles vary from statute miles. A statute mile is 5,280 feet. A nautical mile is 1/60 of a degree or one minute of latitude. This is equivalent to 6,076.11549 feet. Although it’s not precise, most navigators convert by using a factor of 1.15.

The formula to convert nautical miles to statute miles can be written as follows:

SM (statute miles) = 1.15 * NM (nautical miles)

(More accurately, it’s really 1.15077945)

3. What is the formula to convert statute miles to nautical miles?

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4. We flew 25,303 nautical miles total. How many statute miles is that?

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5. Convert the nautical miles from Hilo to Oakland into statute miles.

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