Turning Left or Right Trivia Quiz

Answer: Turn right - Sydney is northeast of Melbourne

Melbourne is located at roughly 145E 37S; Sydney is at 151E 34S. This makes Sydney 3 degrees north and 6 degrees east of Melbourne. If I were to fly due north, I would pass well to the west of Sydney. If I were to fly due north from Melbourne, I would eventually reach Cairns (in Queensland). Travelling even further, I could get to Port Moresby (in Papua New Guinea) or Sapporo (in Japan). If I want to reach Sydney, I need to turn towards the right and fly in a roughly northeast direction.

Answer: Turn left - Tokyo is somewhat west of Sydney

Sydney is located at 151E 34S; Tokyo is at 140E 36N. This makes Tokyo about as far north of the equator as Sydney is to the south of it (which really surprised me). Tokyo is 12 degrees west of Sydney, so we need to veer left if we want to get there. You won't find much land due north of Sydney - the 151E meridian does pass through the very eastern part of Russia.

There are also some Pacific islands.

Answer: Turn right - Honolulu is definitely south of Tokyo

Tokyo is situated at 139E 35N; Honolulu is at 158W 21N. This makes Honolulu roughly 14 degrees south of Tokyo. Flying due east would bypass Hawaii completely - the first American soil we would reach on that path would be somewhat north of Los Angeles, which is located at 34 degrees north latitude.

Despite the fact that it is shown as having a west longitude, Honolulu is about 63 degrees to the east of Tokyo, flying in the shortest direction. Because it is on the opposite side of the 180 degree meridian, the measurements change from how far east of Greenwich it is to how far west it is from Greenwich. We also crossed the International Date Line, which is located roughly along the 180 degree meridian.

Answer: Turn left - New Orleans is definitely north of Honolulu

Honolulu is located at 158W 21N; New Orleans is at 91W 30N. This makes New Orleans nearly ten degrees north of Honolulu, so I'd better steer northwards by turning to the left. New Orleans may have been devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but there is still a lot to interest visitors. I will anticipate the attractions eagerly during our flight of about 6500 km (4000 mi).

Answer: Go straight ahead - Rio de Janeiro is almost exactly southeast from New Orleans

New Orleans is located at 43W 23S; Rio de Janeiro is at 91W 30N. The difference in longitude is 48 degrees, and the difference in latitude is 53 degrees. The exact bearing I should follow is 138T (also written as S42E), only 3 degrees off my current path. Over the long flight, of course, this needs to be corrected, or we will indeed end up elsewhere than we intended, but the correction is relatively minor. We will be covering a distance of about 7700 km (4800 mi), and if our speed is similar to that of commercial flights we will be in the air for about ten hours. Before we arrive, we will check the maps again!

Answer: Turn left - London is much farther north than it is east from Rio de Janeiro

Rio de Janeiro is located at 43W 23S; London is at 0W 52N. (Remember watching the London Olympics, with the equestrian events held so that the riders crossed the Greenwich Meridian?). The east-west difference is 43 degrees; the north-south difference is 75 degrees.

This means that London is well north of a line running northeast from Rio de Janeiro. If I fly along my original path, I will actually fly south of Europe entirely! We will fly over the Sahara Desert, and we might see Istanbul before heading on into Asia.

Answer: Turn around - St Petersburg is north and east of London

London is located at 0W 52N (it is stated as 0W although the centre of London is slightly west of the prime meridian); St Petersburg is at 30E 60N. This makes it 30 degrees to the east, and 8 degrees to the north. East would have been a much better guess than north! The map used in the question, dating from 1914, does not have north at the top of the image, and there is distortion from producing a plane projection, so it looks as if St Petersburg is almost exactly northeast from London. That is deceptive, but it is definitely north and east, not south or west.

Answer: Turn right - Vladivostok is somewhat to the south as well as a long way to the east from St Petersburg

St Petersburg is located at 30E 60N; Vladivostok is at 132E 43N. That makes it 17 degrees of latitude south from St Petersburg. It is also over 100 degrees to the east - over a quarter of the way around the globe at that latitude, and still in the same country! If you aren't constrained by the need to get your plane around the globe in a FunTrivia flight, you might consider taking the Trans-Siberian Railway.

This is actually a rail network, which you can access from St Petersburg, going first to Moscow, before starting the seven day journey to the other end of the country. You can also branch off and go to Beijing, if that takes your fancy.

Answer: Turn right - Mumbai is well to the west of Vladivostok, as well as being to the south

Vladivostok is located at 132E 43N; Mumbai is at 72E 19N. This makes Mumbai 60 degrees to the west and 24 degrees south of Vladivostok - flying due west would actually have been closer to the correct path than flying due south! While visiting Mumbai, we can visit Bollywood and watch some cricket - if the IPL is out of season, there will probably be some international team touring.

Answer: Turn right - Melbourne is well south of Mumbai

Mumbai is located at 72E 19N, Melbourne is at 145E 37S. This makes Melbourne 73 degrees east of Mumbai, but it is also 56 degrees to the south. If I fly due east from Mumbai, I will miss Australia completely, as the northernmost tip of Cape York is at 10 degrees 41 minutes south.

The 19th north parallel passes through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. It then passes through the Philippines, and Hawaii. Melbourne is not in the picture, so I'd better turn right and head south!