Plane on conveyor... Will it ever take off?

[pauldun170]

The ground is irrelevant.

All that matters is air. thrust is used to overcome drag.

Everything else is swirlies...


fucking bitches

[defector]

There is no spoon

[Flexin]

Originally Posted by Lucky3623

No? Really? Damn... I need to do more research then... I also thought that wind is made by trees swaying back and forth in the atomsphere...


When a fighter jet lines up at the end of the runway, it typically runs its engines up to full speed before releasing brakes. The speed of the wheels on the jet is equal to the speed of the runway below it (0 mph). The air coming out of the back of the engine is over 1000 mph, much faster than the aircraft needs to get airborne. If the myth is right, the aircraft should lift off!

And here is the argument you typically hear:
But wait, the brakes are set!!! That is why it doesn’t work!
So the second the pilot lets go of the brakes, the jet gets airborne?
No, it gets airborne when the speed through the air (not over the ground) reaches the point to cause enough lift over the wings to overcome gravity (the weight of the jet.)

The compressibility of air and temperature differences result in vast differences in one if you try to hold the other constant.

Right so then how will a treadmill stop it from flying? It won't. The air going through the jet engine isn't moving over the wings. When they release the brakes it moves forward, gaining speed then when its moving fast enough through the air for the wings to create lift it will fly. Put it on skis and it will do it on snow. Put it on floats it will do it on the water. And the reason that works is because the wheels and ground don't matter.

James

[Particle Man]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

Yeah, if the Air Force doesn't control the laws of physics, who does?

JC

The CIA.

Duh.


Sheesh.

[fasternyou929]

Originally Posted by Avatard

Gentlemen: Since the plane is on a treadmill, it is not being forced through the air, creating an artificial headwind.

That's where the confusion lies. A treadmill cannot immobilize a plane, it can only rotate it's wheels, which will do absolutely nothing to slow it down.

[askmrjesus]

Originally Posted by defector

There is no spoon

Of course not.

It exploded.

JC

[Amber Lamps]

Yeesh, I'm not as stupid as I thought I guess... Even the pilot on Mythbusters didn't think it would work. I'm sorry Lucky but I operated a Vulcan cannon and jumped out of airplanes for 10 years, that doesn't mean that I can explain how the system works or even how chutes work from a physics standpoint.

[anthonyk]

Originally Posted by Flexin

That wouldn't be impossible. If someone had pockets deep enough that could be built. But they done this on tread mills with remote control planes so its not to hard to believe.

Nope, it really is impossible. The treadmill could never match the speed of the wheels, because there's nothing it could do to keep the plane from moving forward through the air. And that means the wheels always go faster than the belt.

And Avatard, uh. no. The treadmill doesn't do anything to the plane, except spin its free-wheeling wheels. It's just like taking off from a regular runway.

Damn, I swore I wouldn't get sucked into this after the last time it came up.

[Flexin]

Originally Posted by anthonyk

Nope, it really is impossible. The treadmill could never match the speed of the wheels, because there's nothing it could do to keep the plane from moving forward through the air. And that means the wheels always go faster than the belt.

And Avatard, uh. no. The treadmill doesn't do anything to the plane, except spin its free-wheeling wheels. It's just like taking off from a regular runway.

Damn, I swore I wouldn't get sucked into this after the last time it came up.

The belt doesn't need to go as fast as the wheels. It needs to go as fast as the plane as far as the myth goes. So it is possible to build this. And yes your right the wheel speed increase but the fact that fact still shows that it has no effect on the plane at all.

So it is possible to build this and prove this point. Anything short of a bearing failure would not stop the plane from flying so it will prove that wheel speed doesn't matter at all.

James

[Adeptus_Minor]

Originally Posted by askmrjesus

Yeah, if the Air Force doesn't control the laws of physics, who does?

JC

Well, you were supposed to, but I can't even have faith in that anymore.
I'll be damned if I'm leaving Scotch & cookies for you this Christmas Eve.


ps. Is this argument still going on? Really people... someone just needs to ask NASA for a computer sim because this is wasting far too many peoples' time and brain power.