is it possible for an aeroplane 2 be steay still in air?

Answer 1

It's not a hypothetical extreme, but it's not normal either. I've managed to hold my Cessna 172 still (with relation to the ground), and even have it go slightly backwards in a very strong head wind. You can do it at near stall speed with full flaps. During WW2, when the B29s first started flying in the jet stream, some of them managed the same thing, even flying above stall speed.

However, under normal conditions, no, a fixed-wing aircraft must maintain airflow over its wings, and it's not that often that the wind will push you back faster than you're flying. Many aerobatic planes can do maneuvers that seem to stop the plane, but they can't maintain for very long.

Answer 2

Harrier. British aircraft which they do on the aircraft carriers on the sea.

How?
There is an arrangement that the pilot can rotate the muffler around 90 Degrees that the exhaust gases start the thrust downwards. That is the Thrust Vector is diverted in such a way that it balances the 'Thrust' against 'Drag' and 'Lifts' at the same time against 'Gravitational Pull'. If there is any error in this vector the plane will fall with a THUD. The FLAPS are also lowered in order to 'CUP' this thrust vector.

There is another plane from Boeing.
It takes off as an ATR (turbo propeller). Wherever required, after gaining a considerable height it can rotate it propeller sets(both engines) exactly 90 Degrees. And it behaves exactly like a helicopter and can hover. It's a slightly bigger aircraft.

Answer 3

Fixed wing plane. In short YES

a light aircraft if the airspeed was equal to the headwing component (Then groundspeed would equal zero)

For a Jet Aircraft, it would either be a Harrier, (I think the Americans call it an AV-8B) or any other aircraft which produces the same amount of thrust in a vertical direction as the weight. This would require a hugely powerful engine and the aircraft to fly vertically upwards like a rocket.

Answer 4

A helicopter, yes.

Fixed-wing aeroplane? No.

The wing requires continuous airflow to maintain lift - which is what holds it in the air...if the airflow ceases (say, by stopping still) the plane will not float.

However...given a hypothetical extreme example - it COULD happen...

If the headwind flow was strong enough to create sufficient airflow over the wings and stop forward movement - it could be so...but the wind needs to be enough to create sufficient lift...a wind tunnel is a good example

Answer 5

I've heard of an urban legion that stated that an old man with the help of a few friends moved his J-3 Cub into the wind that was consistently blowing at 50 Mph with gust up to 65 Mph. When the friends let go of the Cub the old man lifted it off the ground to a height of 30 feet and never moved forward, not even an inch. Some friends of mine told me that they even heard that he actually flew it backwards for a few yards before returning to the ground.

Believe or Not.

Answer 6

If you fly the craft 100 mph going north, and the winds are steady at 100 mph out of the north, you'll stay up motionless until you flee, or run out of fuel.
Don't plan on landing your small craft with 100 mph headwind, though.
If you ever meet up with that wind speed in a small craft, make a quick call to your lawyer.
To update your will.
THEN call the nearest flight facility for a possible escape route.

Answer 7

Some planes are capable of vertical landings, but it would be an awful waste of fuel for them to hover in one position for too long. Unless my eyes deceived me, I do remember seeing a fixed-wing airplane take a vertical landing approach near Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. once. I was driving by and saw it descending rather slowly in a vertical fashion. It was something I had never seen before and never thought possible, except in military applications. But the plane I saw was about the size of a 737 and seemed to have civilian markings. I wish I had taken a photograph now.

Answer 8

The Harrier.

The British Government invented it.

Basically hot air was accelerated through the vent at the bottom of the plane so that it has vertical force up to hold the plane stay still on the air.

Answer 9

Of course.

The A/V8B Harrier does it every day.

Also, a few fighter jets and high-performance acrobatics planes can perform a maneuver called a "tailstand" which requires a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than 1. See http://www.azcolt.com/images/open0726.jpg for a great example of this.

Answer 10

Steady still?

If you have headwind that is greater than or equal to the stall speed of the wing, then you can theoretically stand still or travel backwards while in the air.