– how can a plane appear still in the air?

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driving home, i saw a massive plane just hovering close to the ground. it was dead still once i saw it, and it stayed there for at least 10 seconds. it wasn’t until i turned my head away and back and saw the end of it turning away at a stop light.

from a perspective, my speed was around 40 mph.

super freaky, i thought it was a new piece of architect or a balloon, but it was not.

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14 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

A cessna 172 has a stall speed of 55kph (101km/h) (, that means that if the wind moves over the wings at more than 55knots, the plane will fly.At ground level, thats rare, but happens, but a few hundred feet up in the air that happens all the time. So if the pilot pulls back on the throttle until he reaches zero in groundspeed, but still has 55kph or more in wind speed against him, the plane will stand perfectly still in relation to the ground.So its actually not appearing to stand still, it IS standing still (in relation to you)

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