Polar Routes

Yes, I recently set out to fly directly over the pole (NOPOL is a waypoint). However, it’s not clear if this is magnetic or true…

The trick is to understand that the flight path will look crazy, and as you pass the pole, the weather (barometric pressure) changes all over the place, so the plane trying to stay at the correct altitude may find itself under or over where it thinks it should be. If you think the plane can’t handle the changes, turn off auto pilot and just fly straight and level till you are past the pole.

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