Would a plane take off on a tredmill?

[A18A]

The myth goes as follows:
A plane is standing on a runway that can move (like a giant conveyor belt). This conveyor has a control system that tracks the plane's speed and tunes the speed of the conveyor to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction).
Will the plane be able to take off?

Where the 2 answers are: 1) No, because the plane needs airflow over the wings in order for the plane to take off. And 2) As long as the wheels are free moving the thrust from the engines will allow the plane to move forward and thus create the airflow needed.

Of course those of you familiar with this know it gets into much more depth than just that, but those who are not, please look up "plane treadmill" on a search engine and be prepared for a long read.


Alright, enough of this. The reason for you to sign this petition is to get this done on public television. Adam and Jamie (and of course the others too) love playing with things and for a myth this big how can they say no when we have all your signatures!

I know it wont take off in the air, but would it go foward at least?
http://www.petitiononline.com/plntdml/petition.html <--- Sign it!

PS:

notice 3geez and cb7tuner have had the same total amount of users online at the same time :P

3geez:


CB7Tuner:


yeah thats it :P

[g-wagon]

ha... i'm on that list :P

[TypeG]

yes, it would take off because a jet moves air. later.

[wed3k]

what about the air going over the plane's wings and hitting the flaps to propel itself into the air.

the flaps are what mainly control the altitude. (other than gravity)

[Accord R33]

ill wait for scotty to chime in here, but no, its simply impossible. you can create lift without airflow.

[93EXaesthetic]

[HondaGuy1212]

ill wait for scotty to chime in here, but no, its simply impossible. you can create lift without airflow.

is scotty Owequitit?

[skubydobdo]

doesnt matter how fast the wheels are moving at all. geez. No airflow over the wings means no lift. No lift=not leaving the ground. The only way for this to happen with a stationary aircraft is for a really high wind velocity to be coming at it from head on.

[owequitit]

Yes that would be me!

The airplane WILL takeoff.

The wheels on an airplane have nothing to do with the forward movement of the airplane, nor do they have any way to stop it from moving without touching the brakes. The wheels can be moving backward at 3,000,000 MPH, and the plane will still roll forward.

I will bet $1,000,000 to anyone who doesn't believe me.

[MikeW]

Thatd be sweet...to create a massive 1000ft tall wall of air, blowing towards a plane on a giant treadmill...then the question becomes, A) would the plane take off? B) would it move forward at all?

Assuming it did take off and didnt move forward..how cool would that be to see? A plane 500ft in the air just hovering in one spot...

[owequitit]

Here is an article that explains it pretty well.

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/191034-1.html

It is geared toward pilots, so if you don't understand it, just ask and I will interpret it for you.

[TypeG]

for some reason, it's hard for people to grasp that. later.

[93EXaesthetic]

[g-wagon]

i just want to see them do it... later.

[phatdoughnut]

surprisingly, the one critic who saw it said it was pretty good. it was some guy on good morning america or something.

The plane would crash because of terrorist...