...I believe that if the earth were a spinning, whirling sphere, there would be differences that we would observe, compared to how things are.
If you sit down and do the maths, you can see why the RE model fits so well, and why this belief of yours is incorrect.
When you are up in the air a kilometer or two, curvature ought to be evident. It isn't. So, the earth is flat. I enjoy flying, because it gives me a chance to verify that the earth is indeed flat.
Again, you need to do the maths, and bear in mind that just observing a curved horizon is inconclusive. When flying, you should be able to see that the higher you go, the further you can see, which is actually quite conclusive (particularly on a clear day, when the horizon is clearly defined and not obscured by haze).
Flying near the ocean is a good one, especially if there are offshore oil rigs. I have done this, and watching an oil rig "roll" over the horizon as you climb is pretty clearly only possible on a (roughly) spherical earth. To clarify what I mean by "roll over the horizon", the rig goes from obscured, to sitting on the horizon line, to well below the horizon line, with no significant change in horizontal distance (if anything, a slight increase), only change in altitude.
EDIT: sorry, didn't intend to sidetrack there, better try to stay on topic...
Would someone mind posting actual evidence instead of derailing this? Thanks.
I would very much like to see a good, repeatable, unbiased experiment that yields unambiguous results. Evidence shared is all well and good, but being able to gather it yourself is even better.
Any evidence works. Observational, experimental (must be repeatable), etc.