"DM" wrote in message
...
Yesterday I saw a cargo jet (a major air express company) come to what
seemed like a dead stop in midair as it was making its ascent. After
about 20 - 30 seconds of hanging without dropping out of the sky, it
continued climbing and apparently did not crash.

As others have said, it's just an optical illusion, unless the wind picked
up suddenly to bring the aircraft's ground speed to zero (unlikely).

At Raleigh-Durham International, there used to be a road that paralleled one
of the main runways. A couple of times, I just happened to be on that road
at the end where a large commercial jet (B737or similar) was just starting
its takeoff roll. I floored the car and left the jet behind. About the time
I got to the speed of around 70 mph, that jet blew past me about midway down
the runway going so much faster it was hard to believe. It brought home the
fact that those jets are moving very fast when they look like they are going
the slowest.

-Trent
PP-ASEL