This is what happens when a 230-ton Airbus A330 has the right angle of attack, the right low speed and the right amount of head wind: it gets suspended in the middle of the sky for a few seconds.
It feels like it’s flying in slow motion, then it freezes for a couple of seconds and keeps moving in slow motion. The phenomenon has an easy explanation: the Airbus is making a very slow low pass, taking advantage of the very strong head wind combined with the minimun air speed and a high angle of attack to achieve lift for its flaps configuration (which is hard to see from the ground).
This results in an extremely low ground speed, which results from the A330′s air speed used minus the speed of the head wind. The combination of this ground speed and the A330′s size give the viewer the sensation of a plane almost frozen in midair.
In other words: MAGIC!
Bill Nye
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 9:04 AMin other words: SCIENCE!
PeterB
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 9:59 AMI once saw a Tiger Moth take off into a very strong headwind. It lifted off the ground vertically and took a long while to get anywhere!
Just This Guy ...
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 10:23 AMHigh alpha harrier maneuvers from an airliner… Impressive.
Very impressive considering they’re not designed for it.
Charles
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 11:04 AMMan that is some shitty weather.
The Joker
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 11:38 AMFake….there is no way in hell air traffic control are going to have 2 aircraft crossing their paths that close….and if there was that much cross wind, lets see, about 300km/hr, no way would that first jet taking off have used that runway.
Paul
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 11:51 AMHaha, this is impressive. I think god had something to do with it. Nope, just science.
Isn’t the video cut together? so there for the time between the plane(s) could have been dramatically shortened.
will
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 11:52 AMIs there video of this, a picture doesn’t do this phenomenon justice.
jayrrr
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 9:29 PMits a video
David Shears
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 12:51 PMPilot immediately before the maneuver:
“Stand back
I’m going to try science”
http://imgs.xkcd.com/store/imgs/stand_back_square_0.png
I assume this was done at an airshow in some country that has pretty shoddy general aviation laws
@The Joker – Angle of Attack is the key. You don’t need a 300Kph headwind to generate enough force on the wings and fuselage. At that angle you should think of the Jet as less of a plane and more like a kite, a massive 200 tonne kite with twin (Rolls Royce?) jet engines.
If your Angle of Attack is lower you will have far less opposing force on the jet and you could easily overcome the headwind and gain airspeed
The Joker
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 1:04 PMAt take off, ground speed is pretty much in excess of 300km/h so by your reckoning at take off where the angle of attack is quite high they should be able to do it at far lower speeds. I think not. I’ve flown aircraft….it doesn’t work that way, at least with your average commercial jet. Military fighters are different because of their huge power to weight ratio which is why they can do such amazing things at air shows. Besides, you still have the issue of direction. The amazing hovering jet is going across the path of the jet taking off so to hover the wind direction must be going against the hovering jet. Even if we assume the headwind was 100km/h, they still wouldn’t be taking off from that runway with that kind of crosswind.
The Joker
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 1:13 PMOK, I’ve watched it again more closely and clearly it’s been edited so apparent directions are a bit screwy. I’ll have to concede that maybe it’s plausible. Also, if this is an airshow then it’s going to be unloaded so weight will be way down from normal passenger flight levels.
Kendal
Thursday, November 10, 2011 at 9:57 PMIf I was on that plane when that happened, my pants would be so full of crap, my face would be pressed up against the ceiling.
And what if the headwind stopped, or even just lapsed 40% for a few seconds? I’ll tell you what. Everyone on that plane would be pulling zero G for about 3 seconds immediately prior to their spines and skulls pancaking in their seats, shortly followed by incineration. No thanks.