Why look planes while landing as if they stand in the air?

Question

Why look planes while landing as if they stand in the air?

Answer 1

each plane has a certain landing speed for certain weather conditions and runway conditions. These landing speeds may be as slow as 45 knots for a small Cessna (172 perhaps), to as fast 165 knots for a Boeing 747.

furthermore, if they are put into a holding pattern around the airport at less than 10,000 feet Mean Sea Level (MSL), they have to fly at a speed that is less than 250 knots.

this is why planes look like they're moving so slow when landing

Answer 2

Stand at the landing threshold and tell us they're standing still as they pass.

Answer 3

While planes aften land very slowly, they may seem to not move at all because of the angle you're seeing them. If you're looking at them from the front or back, then they won't be moving fast enough for their size to change quickly. The other most profound instance is when you're walking or especially driving, objects moving between you and the aircraft can give the illusion that it is motionless or even moving backward.

Answer 4

Judging speed from a distance is hard to do.  Any moving object seen from a distance will appear to be either moving slow or stationary.  When we look up at the Moon for example it does not appear to move even it traveling though space at thousands of miles an hour and it's seen from the Earth which is itself moving.  A 747 seen from a distance when landing seems to be going slow but the distance and the size of the aircraft hides the fact that it is usually moving about 180 mph.

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Answer 5

the real reason why planes look like they're floating in the air is because they always land into the wind. And like the guy above said, different planes land at different speeds. If ur landing at a 45 knot headwind but you land at 50 knots, your only moving 5 knots forward. While that is very unlikely, that is why big planes look as if they are 'floating' in the air and not even moving even though they really are, just not as fast as they normally would without the headwind. hope this helps

Answer 6

Because they're big.  A smaller object at the same speed would appear to be moving faster.  We use the size of the object itself as part of the reference for its apparent speed.