In aviation, the Big Sky Theory is that two randomly flying bodies are very unlikely to collide, as the three dimensional space is so large relative to the bodies. Some aviation safety rules involving altimetry and navigation standards are based on this concept. It does not apply (or applies less) when aircraft are flying along specific narrow routes, such as an airport traffic pattern or jet airway.
The Big Sky Theory has been mathematically modeled, using a gas law approach. This implies that metal-on-metal collisions of aircraft in free flight should be extremely rare in en-route airspace, whereas operational errors (violations of formal separation standards) should be relatively common. Three critical parameters are the number of flying object(s) per unit volume, their speed, and their size. Larger, faster objects, flying in a traffic-rich environment are more collision-prone (per unit time).
Read more about Big Sky Theory: Military Aviation Tactics, Space Warfare, Big Ocean Theory
Famous quotes containing the words big, sky and/or theory:
“O, pluck was he to the backbone and clear grit through and through;
Boasted and bragged like a trooper; but the big words wouldn’t do;
The boy was dying, sir, dying, as plain as plain could be,
Worn out by his ride with Morgan up from the Tennessee.”
—Constance Fenimore Woolson (1840–1894)
“And shall the earth
Seem all of paradise that we shall know?
The sky will be much friendlier then than now,
A part of labor and a part of pain,
And next in glory to enduring love,
Not this dividing and indifferent blue.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“No one thinks anything silly is suitable when they are an adolescent. Such an enormous share of their own behavior is silly that they lose all proper perspective on silliness, like a baker who is nauseated by the sight of his own eclairs. This provides another good argument for the emerging theory that the best use of cryogenics is to freeze all human beings when they are between the ages of twelve and nineteen.”
—Anna Quindlen (20th century)