Sorry if this is a silly question. I am a flat-earth noob.
From the model in the FAQ it appears that flatearthers believe the earth to have a flat circular shape with the antarctic ice around its circumference. How does this account for the decreasing distance to circumnavigate the earth along lines of longitude as your latitude drops below the equator.
To eliminate debate about the lat/lon coordinate system, I will limit my use of it to just the equator, which seems to be included in both flat and round earth models. Secondly, I assume that the equator in both models mark the same path on the surface of the earth in relation to surface landmarks. That is, I assume that everyone agrees on where the "equator" lies as far as which countries/cities/etc. that it passes through.
OK. Here goes....
If I take off in a plane at the equator and fly due east, lets say using a compass for navigation, and I fly until I end up where I started, round-earthers believe I've flown around a sphere and flat-earthers believe that the earth's magnetic field has tricked me into slowly turning and eventually arriving back where I started. In any case, I can measure the distance traveled, either by measuring time and velocity or by some more direct means (camera looking at the ground etc.)
If I then travel further south and repeat the experiment then we will have a discrepancy between the models, for the flat-earth model predicts my flight distance will be longer, but the round-earth model predicts a shorter flight. Again I will use a point of reference that both models include, namely the continent of Antarctica.
If I take off in my plane close enough to Antarctica to see the ice sheet and I again travel due East, according to both models I should continue to see the ice sheet to my right until I arrive back where I started. However, the flat-earth model predicts this will require traveling nearly twice the distance that I traveled at the equator while the round-earth model predicts a significantly less distance traveled then at the equator.
I understand that aircraft does not frequently cross over the continent of Antarctica, but enough vessels should travel at southerly lattitudes for a significant enough distance "around" the Earth to be able to easily verify the geometry of the Earth. The discrepancy in distance between the southern tip of south america and the southern tip of africa between the models should be telling enough.......
Am I making any sense?