Is it possible for a passenger Jumbo jet to remain still in the air?

Question

I can swear I saw a stationary one in the sky absolutely motionless but in the sky...

Answer 1

physics would say 'no'.

Answer 2

Jumbo Jets hover like house bricks.

Gravity is a wonderful thing.

It may have appeared the Jumbo was motionless to you; but I assure you, it was an optical illusion.

If the 747 was approaching you (ie a low flyover), it may have been at a very low speed (say 79-knots); which would have given the impression that the plane was "hovering" because your head was convinced that a Jumbo should be flying at a faster speed.

Answer 3

No.

No passenger jet can do that, they cant even fly under 170mph safely.

Answer 4

Yes but it would have to be bucking one heck of a head wind.

Air speed versus land speed>

Air speed is the speed the plane is flying against the air.

Say you have a plane flying at an air speed of 200 knots,  But it is bucking a head wind of 190 knots then said plane will only actually be flying at a land speed of 10 miles an hour.

There have been many cases of planes getting in the jet stream and actually flying backwards as far as land speed is concerned

Say you are flying at an air speed of 300 knots but bucking the jet stream which is say 500 knots.  Then you are actually going backwards not forward.

Say you let point "A" going to point "B" which is 300 knots from point "A"  heading due west at 300 knots per hour.  You climb into the jet stream which is blowing due east at 500  Knots per hour.

After flying for 1 hour instead of being right over point "B" ready to land you are 500 knots due east of "B" and 200 Knots east of point "A" where you started.

The net result is the head wind has blown you backwards 200 knots from where you started.

Here is another example Say you are flying at an sir speed of 500 knots and you are bucking a jet stream head wind of 500 knots your ground is going to be "0" knots or standing still.

Hope that makes it clearer.  A lot of planes were lost never to be seen because of that when planes first were able to get up in the jet stream.

Answer 5

no. its not designed to do that. It needs the flow of air to keep it up.