Will the plane be able to take off?-
YES. As long it's engines are being employed. When the engines are revved, the plane will move forward no matter how fast the wheels are moving beneath it. The wheels would just be going the speed of the treadmill PLUS the airspeed of the plane. The plane would eventually be travelling fast enough, then.... off into the sunset.
The only thing that would stop it is if the bearings on the wheels toasted and seized.

Well....you have a few options

1. Trust the guys who fly planes
2. Trust the guys who don't fly planes
3. Take ground school

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

It's a very complex subject and somewhat abstract if your used to "ground based" observations. The sky is a whole other ball game. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

This thread is funny. If the conveyor is capable of not letting that plane move forward, then no air (except propwash) will move across the surface of the wings. I would think it would not fly.

They said nothing about chaining the plane down. The silly conveyor can turn a million miles per hour. The wheels will burn up and fall off and the dam plane will FLY.

Think about it.....If the plane is not strapped down it will roll forward. The wheels attached to the conveyor might free spin twice as fast. The wheels only serve to hold the weight of the plane. The wheels on a plane are attached to no driveshaft...they free spin.

AHHHHH it's like talking to a wall!

Those 2 highlighted words should be enough to convince anyone that the plane will indeed lift off.

I feel your pain <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/zombie.gif" alt="" />. Let me help:

[color:"red"] THE PLANE WILL TAKE OFF! [/color]

So if you were in an elevator, and the cable snapped. Would you die if you jumped right before the elevator smashed aginst the ground?





If train A leaves city B at 60 miles an hour, and a tree falls in the woods when no one is around, how much wood can a wood chuck, chuck?

The argument is then, can the conveyor keep the plane from rolling forward. No. But if it could. Then no air would pass over the wings. How the heck is there going to be lift??

-The Wall

Very astute observation Lee. The riddle above says that the plane can acheive speed.



The conveyer could track the planes speed, and that will not have any effect on the plane moving foward against it. The wheels are ROLLING, and you can roll against something when your engines are pulling AIR. The wheels are not drive devices.


I could Hold a plane back with the treadmill going 200 mph he other way. Probbally with both hands, and a small rope. The rolling resistance is very small.

Plane takes off at 300 knots ground speed (due to conveyer rollling backwards) and 150 knots air speed. Period, no argument is valid against this.

NOW if the conveyer moved the total environment as in the AIR, and the ground, then the plane would NOT be able to take off. If this was a conventional wheel driven car... it would not move.

A Marine Corps pilot would trick the treadmill by pulling on backwards.

Slam on the brakes and whoosh...instant catapult


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