"Todd Pattist" wrote in message
...
Give her a break, Peter, she asked politely and responded to
the answers.

Yes, she did respond to the answers, refusing to accept them.

It's something that concerned her, and if GA
is to survive, we don't want to be scaring the general
public.

The general public is already scared. For no good reason. That's my point.

The illusion she encountered is quite overpowering.

Most optical illusions are. So what? That's what makes it an *illusion*.
An easily ignored illusion isn't really much of an illusion.

I look at planes every day. Every week I drive by Stewart
where they land the C5A. Its size gives me the same
"stopped in midair" illusion every time I see it. It
always looks like it's just hanging in midair.

But, it is NOT just hanging in midair. It's one thing to ask for expert
advice to confirm one's intuitive sense that an airplane can't just hang in
midair. It's yet another to repeatedly reply that the expert advice is
simply unbelieveable.

I'm getting a little sick and tired of folks who run in a panic every time
they see an airplane doing something they don't understand. "Debbie" has
made very clear that this isn't just about her trying to understand a visual
paradox.

Her *primary* concern is that an airliner might come to a complete stop over
a populated area, and then having done so, fall straight down and kill her.
Statements like "it was quite disturbing", "No fun", "I've been very
concerned", "this bothered me", "the crash would have been extraordinarily
disastrous", and "I'd like to be reassured this is not a common occurrence"
make it very clear where she's coming from, and she's not coming from "I'm
curious about this optical illusion" frame of mind.

Pete