h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am not a physicist, nor a scientist of any discipline whatever, so I have no particular name or reputation to uphold here. I simply enjoy learning and understanding.
I have read this article, and have thought things through a bit. It seems as though the coriolis effect is not an indicator of a rotational frame of reference, but rather an indicator of a rotating sphere. In addition, I can't see how the rocket fired North would land further West (assuming the earth rotates to the East, where the sun comes into view)

These are what I see as facts:
1. The rockets fired East and West fly the expected distance due to the fact that their inertial frames of reference have not changed
2. Their frames of reference have not changed because they have always been the same distance from the Earth's axis of rotation.
3. The rocket fired North follows the curve of the Earth's surface due to gravity.
4. This rocket, in following the curve of the Earth, travels closer to the axis of Earth's rotation.
5. The closer one is to the center of rotation, the slower one must travel to keep up with the rotation(at one foot away from the exact North pole, it takes an entire day to travel a circle little more than six feet around.
6. The farther one is to the axis of rotation, the faster on must travel to keep up with the rotation (at the equator, it only takes one day to travel the circumference of the Earth)
6. Since the rocket fired North started at a high East/West speed, and it approached the Earth's axis by way of gravity, it should actually be travelling faster than the land below it, and therefore land further East.
7. If the Earth were a cylinder (as an imagined space station could be) the coriolis effect would no longer be noticeable, for all points on the surface would be the same distance from the axis of rotation.

This also explains the whirling of water down a drain:

In a drain in the Northern Hemisphere, the side of the hole closest to the equator is moving East faster than the side closetr to the North Pole due to its longer distance from the earth's axis. Thus the hole is actually spinning counter-clockwise (as is the Earth, when viewed from the North Pole) However, since water has its own inertia (desire to stay still) the water on the surface, above the drain hole, seems to flow in the opposite direction of the hole, causing the water to swirl clockwise!

This is how I see it. If I am wrong, I would appreciate it if these things were explained otherwise.

As always, find the Truth!
Cheers!