If airlines aren't acceptable for schedules, how about shipping?
Maersk Line offers container service between the ports of Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. (
Maersk's Home Page)
Based on their published schedule, I could send a container from Sydney to Auckland. The container from Sydney would be loaded on the
Maersk Fuji (
Maersk Fuji Specifications) on 22 July and arrive in Auckland on 29 July after a stop by the ship in Melbourne to load and discharge containers (39 hours from Sydney to Melbourne and 106 hours from Melbourne to Auckland with 22 hours of time in port).
This is a published schedule and you could track it if you choose.
When the
Maersk Fuji made the voyage from Melbourne to Auckland in June 2008 it 38 hours to go from Sydney to Melbourne, and then, 119 hours to make the voyage to Auckland. (Voyages #0822 and #0823).
Here is where the interesting information comes in. World Distances Between Ports (Pub 151) gives the distance between Melbourne and Auckland as 1649 nm. At her design speed of 18.8 knots, that would allow the
[Maersk Fuji to complete the voyage in 87 hours, but we have to allow for getting into and out of the harbor, picking up the pilot and docking times.
The latitude and longitude of Melbourne is Lat - 37° 49' S Long - 144° 56' E and Auckland is Lat - 36° 50'S Long - 174° 47' E. A difference of 29° 51' of longitude.
In real Earth geography a degree of longitude at 37° latitude is 46.8 nm, or 1397 nm for the approximate straight line distance between these two ports.
In flat Earth geography a degree of longitude at 37° south latitude is 133.0 nm (radius at that line of longitude is 7620 nm, giving a circumference of 47878 nm, making one degree 133.0). This gives an approximate straight line distance of 3970 nm.
The
Maersk Fuji to make her schedule on a flat Earth would have to move 37.5 knots. Over twice her design speed!
This example is a relatively short run in the southern hemisphere, not event requiring to go from Australia to South Africa or any of the other normal voyages.