Apparently 6000 planes fly over the UK every single day. Why can't I see far more planes when I look up? I see maybe one every 10 minutes. Why is that?

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LunarSymphonist@reddit

Depends where you go of course. I'll never forget visiting Hever Castle last year and being shocked at how many planes fly low and frequently over the grounds. It was very strange being in an ancient castle and hearing that constantly. Must've been the proximity to Gatwick.

The real answer is that we can only see a tiny amount of the heavenly dome at any given time.

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Morazma@reddit

Do you think you can see the entire UK airspace when you look up?

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

I'm not sure. Do you think I can? It depends if I'm looking up or up and around. I doubt anybody can see everything all at once. And the last time I checked, the UK is pretty big even just at ground level. The air is even bigger than ground.

So in the round, I'd say: no. I don't think I can't see the entire UK airspace when I look up. But I'm not an expert.

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Morazma@reddit

You can probably see for a few miles. The UK is a lot bigger than that. You probably see like less than 1% of the airspace. So even if you looked up for 24 hours straight, you would only see like 1% of planes.

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DanielReddit26@reddit

Given how stupid the question is, I'm not convinced OP is even looking up.

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

I am literally looking up as I type this.

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JurassicM4rc@reddit

I think they might be looking up, but while sat in their living room.

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ReticentRumu@reddit

You can check websites such as flightradar24 to see aircraft flying in the UK (or world) and check your local area.

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PootMcGroot@reddit

The UK is very large... and you can see maybe 10 miles in any direction on a random day. Planes at cruising altitude are very, very small and you won't hear them - you'll only see them if looking on very clear days. Most planes take roughly similar flight corridors - if you don't live near one, or an airport, you could easily never see a plane.

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I_will_never_reply@reddit

You can see WAAAAY more than 10 miles. I've looked at airliners in the sky from where I am in South Wales and it turns out they're over Wiltshire or Devon, the UK is actually tiny from an aviation point of view. I used to fly my hanglider near Bristol and you can see the Isle of Wight quite easily from there. A quick look at flightradar24 will show you where all the planes are though

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PootMcGroot@reddit

I'm talking from ground level, as presumably the OP would be, not in a hanglider...

The horizon is roughly 5-10km if you're standing on the ground in a relatively flat area.

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split-tennisball@reddit

Because you can't see the sky for the whole of the uk and you may not live near a flight path.

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

!solved

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shazhazel@reddit

There’s a lot of money in the UK why can’t I see all of it?

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

Because it's hiding in pockets?

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psychopastry@reddit

There's 3.5 trillion fish in the sea, when I go to Brighton beach why can't I see more fish?

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AdHorror4165@reddit

That puts in perspective (If that's the right word) the trailer in some DVD I had as a kid "There's over 6.4 billion people in the world, but that's nothing compared to the animals..." I don't know if that had insects in mind, which is said to be 10 quintillion.

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Opposite_Funny9958@reddit

They hide behind the clouds and dart out when you’re not looking.

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

Not true.

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InvestigatorDue7177@reddit

You posted this 10 minutes ago, look up now you might see another one now!!

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

I posted it 48 minutes ago...?

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

The comment was deleted by user, so now it just looks like I'm talking to a mannequin in a shop window while I'm outside the shop.

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Dormsea@reddit

Another interesting fact is that in any part of the day around 1 million people are in the air above America.

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MrGrubbycuddles@reddit (OP)

How? In planes?

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FallowfieldPark@reddit

There are over 3 billion people in the world, why can’t I see them all or at least a a billion or two

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spoo4brains@reddit

While "over 3 billion" is technically correct, the number is about 8.3 billion.

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FallowfieldPark@reddit

I knew it was around 7B+ people, but to be on the safe side I went lower so I would have a higher chance of being correct

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Physical-Bear2156@reddit

19:00 on a Sunday Bank Holiday.

It's usually busier than that. No military flights at all.

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Fancy_Toe1451@reddit

No military flights with the transponders switched on at least.

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gerrineer@reddit

I miss lockdown.

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SpikeSpeegle@reddit

There's 34 million cars in the UK so why do i only see about 20 drive by my house every day??

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gerrineer@reddit

20? Lucky fucker!

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glytxh@reddit

The sky is really really big, and planes are comparatively really really small.

They’re also kinda flying specific ‘air roads’ for the most part.

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Inevitable_Okra_4309@reddit

Incoming flashback to Father Ted

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glytxh@reddit

I hear you’re a racist now, Father.

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calicoki77@reddit

I live on the flight path to North America when planes are just climbing.

on a clear morning like today ,I saw about a dozen in ten minutes , the cargo flights start about 4 pm and we see loads ,with the help of flight radar !!!

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mu5tbetheone@reddit

Well, apart from clouds, fog, you also have to take into account most of these are flying over, in other words they're not all landing here. A lot of what you see will be lower more local flights or landing/taking off.

The higher you fly, better from turbulence perspective, there seems to be less (at least in my experience)bigger flights, fly higher up and and it's always less bumpy. Most flights over the UK are traveling between North America and Europe so longer the flight the higher up they go. They fly between 30 to 40,000 feet. At that distance I can't see much more than a dot if at all from land, so the chance of you seeing even single plane in the sky without a telescope is unlikely.

Much like when you're on the plane and look out the window and can't see individuals or places whilst mid flight.

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hydrora31@reddit

Every 10 minutes is 6 an hour, or 144 planes per day. Just where you live.

The UK is huge.

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KaylinT01@reddit

If you live next to Heathrow you’ll see a lot more than if you live in a village in the middle of Scotland

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DanielReddit26@reddit

You're still going to be right, vs Heathrow, but the central Scotland village I live in has quite a lot of traffic!

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Speedbird223@reddit

Amusingly Middle of Scotland gets a decent amount of overhead traffic. All depends on the winds but a lot of traffic between Europe and the west coast of US/Canada goes over Scotland, a few months ago I was even on an LHR-JFK flight that went that way.

A lot of traffic into and out of Iceland goes over Scotland too given Icelandair’s bug hub at Keflavik.

(But yes, I get your point …what would Reddit be without pedants?!)

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GordonLivingstone@reddit

Indeed, lots of traffic heading across central Scotland heading to and from the US. Most not originating in Scotland

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Forward_Opposite_789@reddit

Maybe you blink when the others fly over.

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Lethbridge-Totty@reddit

Because they’re concentrated around major hubs. I used to live near a Heathrow and there were dozens of aircraft within sight at every hour they were legally allowed to be.

If they’re just passing through UK airspace at cruising by altitude then you’re not going to see them either. A Frankfurt to Toronto flight at 37,000 feet is basically a speck in the sky unless you’re really looking for it.

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Voodoopulse@reddit

Because it's a fairly big place

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Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit

They walk amongst us….

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Empty_Bell_1942@reddit

In the canopy of clouds.

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SnooDonuts6494@reddit

Because the sky is very very big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMiKyfd6hA0

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nightfire_83@reddit

Adsb exchange app. It's awesome to see the planes and what they are. And yes, not every where has air traffic. I do. I love it

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IncreaseInVerbosity@reddit

Location. I live underneath several flight paths and at any given point during the day I can look up and see a plane.

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quite_acceptable_man@reddit

Same, but pretty much all the planes that fly over are at 30,000+ feet so I neither see nor hear most of them.

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wardyms@reddit

Download flight radar. Quite a fun app seeing a plane fly over head and learning where it’s going.

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box-o-locks@reddit

Because the UK is a huge place.

And if you see one every 10 minutes, that's still 1,440 a day, so you're seeing 25% of the planes that fly over.

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J-Mc1@reddit

They're not all flying over you.

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Groffulon@reddit

I live in a place where quite a few of the planes are. I call the flight path “The Skidmark” which incidentally is how some people feel about my home too lmao

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blanketred4@reddit

They don't fly over the UK evenly. They're going to a handful of airports so they're flying the same "highways" for a lot of it.

Download flightradar24 and you can see the paths all the planes are taking. In certain places you could be seeing tons of planes all the time or none at all.

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faithlessone423@reddit

Move near a major airport. You'll see them all the time.

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OldGodsAndNew@reddit

My living room window looks right on the flight path for Glasgow airport, I see planes every 5mins during busy periods

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Next-Suit-9579@reddit

This. I live under the main flight path for Newcastle Airport, if I sat outside all day I'd see a lot more than 10, I could probably spot that many in an hour. It's pretty cool flying back home and seeing where you live from the air.

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Tommy_Tomba@reddit

The same reason you only see the tiniest fraction of the 11 million bus journeys that happen every day.

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the_gwyd@reddit

For the most part they're pretty hard to notice if you're not near an airport. I live in Gloucestershire, and on a clear day if you pay attention you can see a dozen planes or so over 10 minutes that you wouldn't have noticed otherwise.

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Then_Drag_8258@reddit

There’s roughly 70 million people in the UK. How many do you see a day?

Just because you don’t see them all doesn’t mean they’re not there.

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ResplendentBear@reddit

Google and reddit don't agree exactly, but they seem to think you can only see a plane with the naked eye from 10-20 miles away.

Given that a chunk of that is accounted for by the altitude of the plane, I'd say you're roughly going to see planes within a 10-15 mile circle of you, at absolute best.

Compare that to the size of the UK.

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Tumeni1959@reddit

You may not be near any flight paths

Many will be too far away to see; how far this is will depend on where you live, and specifically on your elevation above the ground around you. Living in a valley will severely impact this.

6000 in a day = 250 per hour, less than 5 in any particular minute.

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