On the subject of whether a plane that is seemingly standing still WRT the ground can take off or land, it can.
The Russians developed a biplane transport aircraft, the An-2, that is highly optimized for low speed take off and landing on short unprepared air stripes. So the bi-plane has enormous wing area for its weight, lots of high lift devices on the wings to further reduce stalling speed, with a result that the plane can stay in the air at airspeeds as low as 30 mph.
So russian pilots sometime show off by turning the plane into the wind that is blowing at more than 30 mph, And the literally take off or land while stationary WRT the ground, or even going backwards WRT the ground, causing spectator’s jaws to drop.
The Russians developed a biplane transport aircraft, the An-2, that is highly optimized for low speed take off and landing on short unprepared air stripes. So the bi-plane has enormous wing area for its weight, lots of high lift devices on the wings to further reduce stalling speed, with a result that the plane can stay in the air at airspeeds as low as 30 mph.
So russian pilots sometime show off by turning the plane into the wind that is blowing at more than 30 mph, And the literally take off or land while stationary WRT the ground, or even going backwards WRT the ground, causing spectator’s jaws to drop.
