Imagine a plane is sat on the beginning of a massive conveyor belt/travelator type arrangement, as wide and as long as a runway, and intends to take off. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels at any given time, moving in the opposite direction of rotation.
There is no wind.
Can the plane take off?




Your answers please, and please expand on them if possible

 

Do airplanes take off because of wheel speed????

No, they don't, they take off becuase of Air Speed.

Josh

Edit: just want to clarify that im not advocating eaither way with this debate, but am giving you the tools to decide...

 

Of course it will fly

 

I still say no, If the conveyor belt is always moving the same speed as the wheel then the plane will never move forward and therefore will not have any lift under the wings to take off.

 

If their is no wind their is no lift so I say no the plane will stay stationary on the belt.

 

X is right... the treadmill goes as fast as the wheels, then the wheels don't go anywhere. Actually once the plane starts moving due to thrust the wheelspin has nothing to do with the foward movement of the plane. The wheels spin faster (twice as fast really) than they normally would but the plane is still moving the same and required speed of takeoff.

 

The wheels spin freely, they have no way of stopping the planes forward motion. You are incorrect.

 

X is right. the wheels have nothing to do with the jet propulsion. the wheels will just be spinning twice as fast.

 

Right the planes wheels have no trasmission and provide no movement..this is why they have a mule back it out of a stall....engines and air speed = thrust...simple aerodynamics....LOL..but why would an airport put in an expensive 400 foot conveyor belt when runways are already in place...

 

i dont think it will work, it takes lift from the air moving over the wings to 'lift' the plane of the ground and unless you have X amount of wind going over you wings u wont take off, and i do not believe that going on a treadmill will force air over the wings creating lift.