Plane on a treadmill experiment on Mythbusters tonight

[TrophyHusband 0]

as said in the episode, the engine supplies power to the prop, not the wheels. wheels speed means nothing, in fact not all planes even have wheels.

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1) The one first stated in the thread linked above where the conveyor matches the speed of the wheels - No the plane won't take off, and furthermore it's not possible to actually realize a conveyer that can do this.

Why do you state that the plane won't take off? (Aside from such a conveyor being a logical impossibility once the plane starts moving)

Make the "wheels" out of teflon and be sure to leave the brakes on. As long as they don't rotate, neither will the belt, and the plane can ski it's way to take-off.

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[Conundrum 1]

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If the conveyor belt matched the speed of the wheels, the plane would never move, no air would flow over the wing and no lift would be generated.

If the conveyor belt matches the speed of the plane..well the whole scenario is different.

That's actually incorrect. It doesn't matter what the speed of the treadmill is, the plane will still move forward. Whether the treadmill matches the speed of the "wheels" or the "plane" doesn't really mean anything. The wheels will just spin faster is all.

[Lindercles 0]

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Whether the treadmill matches the speed of the "wheels" or the "plane" doesn't really mean anything. The wheels will just spin faster is all.

That's exactly the point. The wheels will continue to spin faster. And if the treadmill is set to match the speed of the wheels, it will also spin faster, and the speed will increase exponentially to infinity. That's exactly why this scenario is impossible.

[jakee 1,254]

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That's actually incorrect. It doesn't matter what the speed of the treadmill is, the plane will still move forward. Whether the treadmill matches the speed of the "wheels" or the "plane" doesn't really mean anything. The wheels will just spin faster is all.

Logically speaking, the only way the conveyor can match the speed of the wheels is if the plane is stationary.

Practically speaking, the scenario is nonsensical.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[Conundrum 1]

Of course it's possible. The wheels will just explode!

[JohnnyD 0]

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1) The one first stated in the thread linked above where the conveyor matches the speed of the wheels - No the plane won't take off, and furthermore it's not possible to actually realize a conveyer that can do this.

Are you saying this is what was in the thread or this is what you believe?

[Lindercles 0]

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Of course it's possible. The wheels will just explode!

But if the wheels exploded, wouldn't that prevent the plane from taking off?

[futuredivot 0]

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But if the wheels exploded, wouldn't that prevent the plane from taking off?

Nah, but it makes landing an adventure

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[bmcd308 0]

Explosions are fun to watch.

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[Zenister 0]

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It just ended. Anyone else watch?

Of course, the plane took off like normal. What's funny is the pilot said he should sit there "like a brick" because the runway/treadmill would hold him in place.

this simply illustrates the fact that quite a few users have no idea about the principles that actually govern their 'craft'

happens everywhere in nearly every field.

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[jtval 0]

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this simply illustrates the fact that quite a few users have no idea about the principles that actually govern their 'craft'

happens everywhere in nearly every field.

I didnt see it but I know. for a fact. that the experiment actually took place next week.
The speed of the wheels spun up so fast that there was a time paradox (wormhole) that opened up and sent the video to the camera of the crew. none of them have any recollection of this yet but they found the footage and decided to edit it anyway.

That' is how I know this whole thing is wrong.

So next week expect for the discovery channel to play this again. Except they will talk about the probablity that the video they just shot that doesnt seem to exist is more than likely the "lost" footage they found back when they started editing the experiment that this thread mentions.

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If the conveyor belt matched the speed of the wheels, the plane would never move, no air would flow over the wing and no lift would be generated.

If the conveyor belt matches the speed of the plane..well the whole scenario is different.

That's actually incorrect. It doesn't matter what the speed of the treadmill is, the plane will still move forward. Whether the treadmill matches the speed of the "wheels" or the "plane" doesn't really mean anything. The wheels will just spin faster is all.

Ah, but you're actually incorrect. If the plane is moving forward (and again, I don't care why it's moving forward) then the wheels are moving faster than the conveyer, and you've violated your ground rules. Period.

It is very important to define problems correctly before you attempt to solve them. That's the message I've been trying to get across by participating in these threads.

/edited to add:

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Make the "wheels" out of teflon and be sure to leave the brakes on. As long as they don't rotate, neither will the belt, and the plane can ski it's way to take-off.

Ah, see? Now we're getting somewhere.

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