"Michael Calwell" wrote in message
My question is, how much air does an engine
ingest at cruise? How would you visualise that amount of air?

The smaller jet engines are rated for 2000 pounds of thrust. The largest are
rated around 100,000 pounds of thrust. For every action (forcing air through
a jet engine), there is a reaction (thrust). The best visual I know of for
this is to watch, hear, and feel a B-777 do a full-power engine run. It's
awesome.

D.