# Planes flying the "wrong way" in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831 "2019-03-09T14:46:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/1 "2019-03-09T14:46:21Z")
I just watched “The High and the Mighty.” It’s about a flight with engine trouble on a flight from Hawaii to San Francisco. Every exterior shot of the plane shows it flying from right to left, contrary to convention. It really bothered me. I realize “west=left, east=right” is a mere convention, but it’s so ingrained in our minds that I couldn’t make the leap. At least they were consistent. The Coast Guard planes rushing to meet them came from the left. But oh, that beautiful music! ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/2 "2019-03-09T15:02:19Z")
In the movie, “Black Sunday,” the blimp is flying to the Super Bowl and the tie-down cable on the nose is arching astern as it should. Robert Shaw jumps onto the blimp, secures the tow cable to the hook near the ass end and the helo tows the blimp, backwards, away from the stadium, WITH THE NOSE CABLE STILL ARCHING ASTERN. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/3 "2019-03-09T15:02:55Z")
West is “left” only if you are looking at the scene facing North (or doing the top-down equivalent with North at the top). I’m not used to West being on the “left” because I grew up spending a lot of time looking to the South, and West was on the right in those cases. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Krupe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ebca7d/32.png) [@Leo\_Krupe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Krupe)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/4 "2019-03-09T16:18:00Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > West is “left” only if you are looking at the scene facing North (or doing the top-down equivalent with North at the top). I’m not used to West being on the “left” because I grew up spending a lot of time looking to the South, and West was on the right in those cases. “And so, the West was discovered. Just to the right of the East. (Looking down from Canada. From Mexico, look left.)” -Harry Shearer, voicing the 1970s Martin Mull album, “Sex and Violins” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/5 "2019-03-09T16:33:34Z")
The Northcentric view is very common and popular, where North is Up and West is Left. This was first codified in the 1602 Hemispheric Conference where it was chosen because it would make Australia a funnier place once it was discovered. I understand the OP, sometimes things like this bother me in movies. No one in the editing room noticed? Or they didn’t care. It would have been easy to turn that film over to make the planes fly the other way if they cared. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/6 "2019-03-09T16:49:13Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The Northcentric view is very common and popular, where North is Up and West is Left. This was first codified in the 1602 Hemispheric Conference where it was chosen because it would make Australia a funnier place once it was discovered. It has since been proven that Australia is NOT at the bottom of the world. And you know who proved it? Australian scientists! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/7 "2019-03-09T17:07:09Z")
Here’s one that really is a mistake! In a Bugs Bunny cartoon, he pops out of the ground in the middle of a bull-fighting arena in Mexico. After consulting his map, he utters one of his catchphrases: “I should have made a left turn at Albuquerque.” He then asks directions from the matador, stating that he was on his way to a big carrot festival in Coachella Valley when he got lost. Wait a minute. If Bugs passed through Albuquerque on his way to Mexico, then he was traveling south to begin with. Coachella is in Southern California. If Bugs had made that left turn, which direction would he be traveling? Which direction is California from New Mexico? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/8 "2019-03-09T17:13:09Z")
Maybe Bugs was coming north up Interstate 25 from El Paso and was going to catch I-40 west nm 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/9 "2019-03-09T18:30:18Z")
> [@GESancMan](#): > > Which direction is California from New Mexico? Short way, long way, or funny way? ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/10 "2019-03-09T19:15:28Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > It really bothered me. I realize “west=left, east=right” is a mere convention, but **it’s so ingrained in our minds** that I couldn’t make the leap. Obviously you mean the convention on maps that north goes at the top. But don’t you ever do any navigation? You always need to think about where north is, and the relationship to your orientation obviously rotates according to your bearing. It’s seems really odd to me to suggest that a movie portrayal of a plane flying has some “conventional” orientation. What’s ingrained in my mind is that you need to _think_ about which way is north when navigating. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/11 "2019-03-09T19:28:25Z")
I can think about which way is north when I’m actively navigating, but not when looking at a map. When there are maps in city centers showing where the points of interest are, they are usually facing the direction the viewer would be facing, and this confuses me since maps always point north in my mind. I have to look for around a minute to find a landmark on the map before I can orient myself correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/12 "2019-03-09T19:33:21Z")
Hmmm… are you and OP of the strange breed that have your phone mapping set so that N is always at the top of the phone, rather than rotated so that N is pointing N? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/13 "2019-03-09T20:30:25Z")
_Grey’s Anatomy_, S2E13 _Begin the Begin_. 36:04. Drs. Yang and Bailey are flying back from Twin Falls, Idaho to Seattle. There is a swooping aerial shot of the small jet ending on the right side of the plane. And the plane facing right. This I have no problem with. OTOH, the fact that the north side of the exterior of the jet is sunlit is a problem. They double down with the sun coming in thru the south facing windows inside the plane. (Of course in GA-land they love having sunlight coming in somewhere all the time. In Seattle. Sometimes there are sunbeams coming in the opposite of a house at the same time. Before 6am. In winter. In Seattle.) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/14 "2019-03-09T20:36:13Z")
Given the time frame of _The High and the Mighty_, they were using stock footage and probably didn’t have any with the plane oriented another way. They could have flipped the image, but then any lettering on the plane (including the ID number) would be backwards. And no one back then cared. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/15 "2019-03-09T22:00:11Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > It has since been proven that Australia is NOT at the bottom of the world. And you know who proved it? > > Australian scientists! 😃 Too bloody right! Just [check the map](https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/48952/mcarthurs-universal-corrective-map-of-the-world-mcarthur)! ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/16 "2019-03-09T22:17:38Z")
> [@DSYoungEsq](#): > > I’m not used to West being on the “left” because I grew up spending a lot of time looking to the South, and West was on the right in those cases. What was so interesting about the South that you would spend so much time looking there? Or was the TV just on the south side of the room? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/17 "2019-03-09T22:19:28Z")
I believe in **This Island Earth** , at the beginning Cal Meacham ( 🙂 ) flies his plane right to left. Of course, he’s going from Washington DC to California, so right to left is the “right” way. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/DCT4xTywUEA/hqdefault.jpg "THIS ISLAND EARTH") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCT4xTywUEA) ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/18 "2019-03-09T22:21:50Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Hmmm… are you and OP of the strange breed that have your phone mapping set so that N is always at the top of the phone, rather than rotated so that N is pointing N? Here in Australia, we have to hold our phones upside down to get Google Maps to work. (Unless you load the DownUnder upgrade, which allows for the fact that the sun often rises in the West in the Southern Hemisphere). ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/19 "2019-03-09T23:00:22Z")
Not to hijack but in the movie “Airplane” everytime you see the plane it is radial engine sounds not jet sounds. Always liked that. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/20 "2019-03-10T01:13:29Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Too bloody right! Just [check the map](https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/48952/mcarthurs-universal-corrective-map-of-the-world-mcarthur)! A few weeks late (Australia Day this year was 28 January), but what the hell: Enjoy! :cool: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831.md?page=2)