I thought you said you were a pilot yourself? Let me give you an example. The earth spins, right? We both agree on that, no? OK, now, lets pretend I could magically fix myself in place right above a spot(say, with ballooons), and not be affected by the Earth's rotation or winds, OK? Let's say I start in San Diego. Now lets say I wait for 12 hours. Where am I now? I'm certainly not over San Diego. I'm HALFWAY AROUND THE WORLD! And I'm a very new student pilot, and didn't travel long or far. I used visual navigation. What, pray tell, do you fly? They certainly made us study flight plans, at any rate, and explained why the paths were curved.