Will an airplane on a treadmill be able to takeoff?

[Gemrah]

[Airsha]

Aye I must revise my statement ;). The wheels will spin even 2 times faster than normally in the good direction.

[Phreaker]

This discussion created a lot of drama in /plague when I was active on Horde side.

Apparently I was a bastard for bringing it up, and only wanted people to look stupid. xD

[Borgrimm]

it is hard, been thinking about it a fair bit, and both sides could work....

[Dida]

Looks like I misunderstood the question. As I see it now, the plain will be able to lift off, under the assumption that the wheels is able to sustain the high rotation they will be under(twice as fast as normal).

Though it reminds me on the age old question: If a car is loaded with birds in a sealed container and all the birds starts flying at once. Will the car be any lighter?

I know the answer to this one. And I even saw Mythbusters try it out once, it was hilarious to see them trying to capture birds and then try varius way to make them all fly at once.

[Feronius]

I'm not retarded.. but I will join Aeol...

P.S. What is a conveyer belt?

[Merke]

'Exactly what I was thinking. I wasnt even thinking about the wheels... just the fact the plane isn't really moving, therefore no lift force provided to make the plane actually go... up!' - Posted by Ricardo

The best comment I found on this issue.

[Jinjiro]

There's no way in hell it would stay on the ground. The amount of ground friction needed to keep the thing stationary, from the amount of air thrust an airplane produces, would have to be considerably more than the friction created by those wheels. That plane's taking off.

On another note, however, it would be hilarious to put a jump jet on a conveyor belt and watch it try and take off. Imagine catapulting a guy in a billion dollar aircraft backwards at the relative speed of a normal airliner's take-off thrust. Giggidy.

[Teeboppity]

Jinjiro wrote:

There's no way in hell it would stay on the ground. The amount of ground friction needed to keep the thing stationary, from the amount of air thrust an airplane produces, would have to be considerably more than the friction created by those wheels. That plane's taking off.

U phail. Thrust =/= equal airflow over the wings. Speed relative to the ground = airflow over the wings.. You could have all the thrust you want from your engines, as long as the wings don't move to create airflow up and over them, the plane will stay happily ground-bound.

[Phreaker]

It's two different forces Tee.

I'll let Moz explain it...
http://meignorant.com/plane_Moz

And in case you didn't look at that link (which I recommend), here's a short text that explains it:

[Borgrimm]

A scientific Experiment I made here shows exactly what will happen....

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See it takes off...

[Avansas]

What's it gonna do once it gets in the air if the plane isn't generating any thrust? It'll just pop straight back down to earth again.

Unless i've skipped about 12 posts (which I have) and the plane IS generating thrust.

Meh.

[Derdriu.]

Avansas wrote:

What's it gonna do once it gets in the air if the plane isn't generating any thrust? It'll just pop straight back down to earth again. Unless i've skipped about 12 posts (which I have) and the plane IS generating thrust. Meh.

All the conveyor belt does is increase the rate at which the plane's wheels have to spin and potentially (depending on friction) increase the force needed for the plane to get going.

[Jinjiro]

Teeboppity wrote:

U phail. Thrust =/= equal airflow over the wings. Speed relative to the ground = airflow over the wings.. You could have all the thrust you want from your engines, as long as the wings don't move to create airflow up and over them, the plane will stay happily ground-bound.

Yeaaahhh, except that the wheels have NO effect on the speed relative to the ground. The wheels serve the purpose of landing the plane and making sure it doesn't take off scraping it's ass along the ground, which would be bad for all involved.

Jet engines work with forces in the air, and unlike a car have nothing to do with ground friction or the relationship between the grip of the tyres and the energy provided by the engine. The best that conveyor belt is gonna do to stop the plane moving forward is to wear down the tyres.

[Phreaker]

Oooold discussion is old. :P

It's funny seeing people still rooting for the "won't take off" side. Aaanyway...