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Have you tried to verify your gnomonic idea?
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If you mean, Have I tried making a Great Circle course across the Atlantic?
Not in the game, but, I have used the "idea" in real life.
For Straight Line distances > 600 nm, it's a necessity at sea to make a Great Circle course. If you fashion a straight line course on a Mercator chart for long distance, you'd wind up going miles out of your way. This is why some players have run out of fuel crossing large bodies of water in the game.
You can prove this to yourself with a "desk globe".
Hold a piece of string between New York and England, pulled tight to the globe. That string represents a Great Circle course. Now, carefully, note where the string crosses meridians and parallels. Annotate those locations on a Mercator chart. You will now have a curved course to follow, which must be broken down into smaller, straight, Rhumb line courses. Even though the course now appears curved, it is the shortest distance between two points.
Rule of thumb:
If straight line course is N of Equator on a gnomonic chart or globe, it will curve toward the North on a Mercator chart.