# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/21 "2019-03-10T02:12:01Z")
A friend of mine made a short film set in WWII, and I did the visual effects for it. We had a scene where a plane flies from England to France and I had it going from right to left. It was pointed out that this was round the wrong way, but by then it was too late, so I kept it in. I had no idea that there was this convention of left-to-right for west-to-east, and I’m not convinced even now that this is true, and no such convention exists. It depends on too many factors and as long as it’s internally consistent, it doesn’t matter. I think the other similar convention of good guys on the left and bad guys on the right, because of the convention of how we read makes it “feel” correct, is also nonsense if you actually look into it. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/22 "2019-03-10T02:26:39Z")
And then there are films with airplanes that transmogrify from 2 to 4 engines, such as the 1960 classic [Horrors of Spider Island](https://youtu.be/TobRwl5htao). ---
**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 10, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/23 "2019-03-10T02:31:50Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > And then there are films with airplanes that transmogrify from 2 to 4 engines, such as the 1960 classic [Horrors of Spider Island](https://youtu.be/TobRwl5htao). You know, if you have $3 to spare, you could probably film a sequel. And have $1.53 left over. ---
**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, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/24 "2019-03-10T02:41:16Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > And then there are films with airplanes that transmogrify from 2 to 4 engines, such as the 1960 classic [Horrors of Spider Island](https://youtu.be/TobRwl5htao). I’m watching a documentary about Pearl Harbor on the Smithsonian Channel. They keep showing old B&W footage of SBDs and F4Fs in Japanese markings. I’d expect this from Hollywood, but from the Smithsonian? Come on, guys, get your act together! :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/25 "2019-03-10T03:04:25Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > And then there are films with airplanes that transmogrify from 2 to 4 engines, such as the 1960 classic [Horrors of Spider Island](https://youtu.be/TobRwl5htao). I saw this documentary once in which a jet plane sounded like a propellor plane: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlpxl0WzaXg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlpxl0WzaXg) ---
**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 10, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/26 "2019-03-10T03:04:52Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > …We had a scene where a plane flies from England to France and I had it going from right to left. It was pointed out that this was round the wrong way, but by then it was too late, so I kept it in… I’m even more confused about this. Why on earth is right to left the wrong way to depict a plane flying south from England to France? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/27 "2019-03-10T03:12:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’m even more confused about this. Why on earth is right to left the wrong way to depict a plane flying south from England to France? East-south-east. Dover to Calais. ---
**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 10, 2019, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/28 "2019-03-10T03:24:22Z")
This whole notion in the OP about this supposed “convention” just seems ridiculous to me. What is the convention for a southbound flight? Should it be depicted flying vertically down the screen? The convention applies to what’s at the top of a map. A movie screen is a depiction of real life, not a map. In real life navigation, you rotate your map so that N on the map points to actual N. You rotate your map to align with reality, you don’t rotate reality to align with your map. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/29 "2019-03-10T04:01:57Z")
The camera could always just be on the other side of the plane. Unless the sun is setting in the wrong direction, or there are identifiable landmarks below which are in the wrong place, I don’t care from which side to which side of the screen the plane is shown to be flying. ---
**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 10, 2019, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/30 "2019-03-10T04:32:47Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > What is the convention for a southbound flight? Should it be depicted flying vertically down the screen? It can be flying in either direction but the song Flying Down to Rio will be playing. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/31 "2019-03-10T04:33:01Z")
I’ve never heard of or noticed this supposed “convention,” and unless there was some obvious landmark or astronomical error (like leaving on a westbound trip in the morning and flying into the sun) it would never occur to me that a plane was flying the “wrong way.” But… > [@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? …I do do this. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/32 "2019-03-10T06:02:21Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Too bloody right! Just [check the map](https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/48952/mcarthurs-universal-corrective-map-of-the-world-mcarthur)! You know that’s a good point. Keep your major land masses toward the bottom, and it’s much more stable. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/33 "2019-03-10T08:22:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > It would have been easy to turn that film over to make the planes fly the other way if they cared. Or indeed backwards and forwards for a bit of a laugh. ---
**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 10, 2019, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/34 "2019-03-10T09:05:24Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > …We had a scene where a plane flies from England to France and I had it going from right to left. It was pointed out that this was round the wrong way, but by then it was too late, so I kept it in… > [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > …unless there was some obvious landmark or astronomical error (like leaving on a westbound trip in the morning and flying into the sun) it would never occur to me that a plane was flying the “wrong way.”… Exactly. In GuanoLad’s example (assuming the plane is flying more-or-less east), right-to-left would only be wrong if (say) the white cliffs of Dover were in the background. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/35 "2019-03-10T09:24:25Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Exactly. In GuanoLad’s example (assuming the plane is flying more-or-less east), right-to-left would only be wrong if (say) the white cliffs of Dover were in the background. Uh… [oops](http://guanolad.com/showreel/images/over_dover.jpg). ---
**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 10, 2019, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/36 "2019-03-10T09:40:40Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Uh… [oops](http://guanolad.com/showreel/images/over_dover.jpg). Right, so the people who questioned the shot were probably not basing it on the alleged “convention”. Was the final destination actually Calais? If not, a southerly course (which looks like what you depicted) still takes you to France. Unless it’s a small single-engined plane flying low, an aircraft is more likely to take a direct track to the destination to save time and fuel, rather than trying to minimize the distance over water. ---
**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 10, 2019, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/37 "2019-03-10T09:57:38Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > …I do do this. I’ve never really got to grips with asking people who do this how they model the relationship between the map and reality. Suppose you’re driving, heading SE and you see a major landmark on your left. The track on your map shows you moving diagonally toward the lower right, and on the map the landmark is diagonally up and to the right of your track. How do you relate what you’re seeing in reality to what you’re seeing on the map? Do you do any kind of mental rotation, or is it just automatic and unconscious that left of the road you’re driving on corresponds to diagonally up and right on the map? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/38 "2019-03-10T10:42:43Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Right, so the people who questioned the shot were probably not basing it on the alleged “convention”. > > Was the final destination actually Calais? If not, a southerly course (which looks like what you depicted) still takes you to France. Unless it’s a small single-engined plane flying low, an aircraft is more likely to take a direct track to the destination to save time and fuel, rather than trying to minimize the distance over water. He did say that it was due to the convention, but maybe it was more than just that. I don’t know, I just stuck the camera that side because it had to be one side, why not that one? It’s not like it’s wrong, it just isn’t facing northwards from the equator. I still don’t see why that should be the way. It seems ridiculous to me. Nobody does this with cars, do they? ---
**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 10, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/39 "2019-03-10T13:22:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’m watching a documentary about Pearl Harbor on the Smithsonian Channel. They keep showing old B&W footage of SBDs and F4Fs in Japanese markings. > > I’d expect this from Hollywood, but from the Smithsonian? Come on, guys, get your act together! :mad: Cut them some slack. They had to work with what they had, and there’s not a lot of footage available. So they did the best they could, figuring only the most anal retentive viewers would care. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831/40 "2019-03-10T13:55:41Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I’ve never really got to grips with asking people who do this how they model the relationship between the map and reality. Suppose you’re driving, heading SE and you see a major landmark on your left. The track on your map shows you moving diagonally toward the lower right, and on the map the landmark is diagonally up and to the right of your track. How do you relate what you’re seeing in reality to what you’re seeing on the map? Do you do any kind of mental rotation, or is it just automatic and unconscious that left of the road you’re driving on corresponds to diagonally up and right on the map? I mentally rotate the map. I don’t find it difficult. It doesn’t matter to me which way the map is oriented in relation to the way I am facing. In fact, it doesn’t matter to me whether north is at the top of the map or not. The plane flying from right to left in the movie wouldn’t bother me at all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/planes-flying-the-wrong-way-in-movies/830831.md?page=3)