Your pic posted above was of 1200x630 pixels. ( file 140KB/2.16MB in memory) I have resized it down using the Irfanview to the 800x420 ( file 228KB/984.5KB in memory). So the compression can be really noticed.
That's a fair change in size as well Wojtek, didn't notice that the pic was that big, with the one that I just posted, you got the feeling that you were almost sitting in the cockpit!
You are right. A large shot can creat a such impression.
Anyway using of the resizing option of the Irfanview isn't for resizing down only. You can use it for making a pic larger. However the quality of a such resized up pic can get worse. All depends oh the quality of the source pic, its DPI etc... but a moderate using of the resizing option for the purpose can be useful as well.