Science: How Far Can You See?

Pan American clipper pilots have found that most of their passengers have surprisingly hazy notions of how far they can see in the air. One passenger, 20,000 feet above Brazil, insisted that she could see the coast of Africa, 1,822 miles away. To set such passengers straight (and help military pilots) Pan Am's clipper captains have worked up a handy "vision range" table.

At sea level the curvature of the earth limits the range of vision to 2.9 miles. The formula for determining how many miles an individual can see at higher levels is the square root of his altitude times...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!