'ATPL Air Regulations (SARON) & Meteorology (SAMRA) Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide for Mastering Your Pilot Certification!'

Great circle tracks are paths on the surface of a sphere that represent the shortest distance between two points, forming arcs when plotted on a two-dimensional map. This is due to the curvature of the Earth; as the globe is spherical, the shortest distance between two locations is not a straight line in the conventional sense, but rather a segment of a circle that divides the globe into two equal halves.

In contrast, rhumb lines, also known as loxodromes, are navigational paths that cross all meridians at the same angle. On a Mercator projection, for example, these lines appear as straight lines, but on the surface of the Earth, they do not represent the shortest distance between two points. Rhumb lines curve as they move over the spherical surface, but they maintain a consistent compass direction, which simplifies navigation.

Therefore, the distinction lies in the fact that great circle tracks are intrinsically arcs due to the Earth's curvature, while rhumb lines, despite often appearing straight on flat maps, are not arcs but rather consistent directional paths that ultimately do not represent the shortest route between two points on a globe.