Is it possible for a airplane to take off from a treadmill?

+1 ^^this^^

The prop/turbine or whatever source of propulsion (except drive wheels) has nothing to do with the lift component of a wing.

Some people cannot disconnect the fact that an airplane's wheel are just bearings (without drive capability) to roll on the ground.

The wheels/bearings can be spin in any direction regardless of the plane's indicated airspeed..... once the propeller/turbine has generated thrust, the wheel/bearing speed and whatever direction they're spinning no longer enter the equation.... relative to the ground.... or moving treadmill for that matter.

 

It was resolved, we are all super smart

 

LOL

Yeah, I know, but there's always a non-believer out there.

 

But the treadmill is irrelevant because the plane is producing its forward velocity through the propeller or jet engine.
The plane doesn't care how fast the GROUND is moving under it... all the plane cares about is the speed of the air.

If the plane takes off at 100mph, and you move the treadmill at 100mph, then the plane will still take off at 100mph airspeed, and relative to you, the observer. The wheels will be spinning at 200mph, but it will fly just fine.

If it were a car attempting to tow a glider into flight, then no... it would not take off on the treadmill because the car's wheels are the source of the forward velocity.

 

Now that is some shit I would like to see!

 

This^
No lift no fly, the wheels can spin like crazy, unless there is lift it stays on the ground.

 

Of course.

What happens to your MPG when you drive your Taco at 75 compared to 55?

Air resistance is a FAR greater factor than ground rolling resistance.
One of my worst tanks should have been one of my best. Flat, level highway rolling 65. Under normal conditions, I would have pulled 25-26mpg. But I was rolling into a strong headwind from a storm system to the north.
Barely maintained 22.. which is what I normally get in New Mexico and Texas rolling 80.

 

I believe the answer to that is 12.

 

Here's an experiment that had me undecided before the outcome.... A jet attached to a skateboard blowing onto a sail.

... Will the jet move the skateboard to it's intended travel, or go 'backwards' towards the sail.. like a sailboat.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3V0KKvXmcs

 

What kind of boat? How big of an outboard?

This is the correct answer ^

 

I hit wind so fast in the Gorge here the dumbo eared front mudflaps twisted in the wind and one touched the tire at times, made a god awful squealing rub.

 

From some of the answers, I think there may be some confusion in the parameters of the myth because the OP oversimplified the question.

1 - If you put a plane on a treadmill and crank it to 100mph with the planes engine running and the brakes released > Yes, it will lift off and fly.

2 - If you put a plane on a treadmill with the engine off, brakes off, and tethered at the nose so it can not move backwards and run the treadmill to 100mph > No, it will not take off and fly.

3 - If you put a plane on a treadmill with the brakes locked and run the treadmill to 100mph, you're going to need to buy a new plane.

 

Drankin makers on the rocks LMAO @ this thread

 

what you see with the sail is not accurate really. The sail did nothing but block air. Air spilling out the sides curled back and moved it forward. In other words... skip the sail and turn the damn fan around and do it right, more speed.

Their logic would have a helicopter flying higher if it had a fake ground strapped under it to fly higher.

 

True, I'm aware of it. I can't seem to find the outcome of the test... they stop short of it in the vid.

Note, the sail IMHO, is too far away from the engine to become a "thrust reverser" of sorts.

 

yea, im getting old enough to almost have missed it.
you made a good call on thrust reverser, it explains it better.

 

Wow, Tundras are used by Mythbusters, Tundras pull space shuttles. Whats next?

 

It was actually confirmed... worked like the cartoons did, but it was not terribly efficient.
I don't recall their explanation for what happened, and I remember that it blew everyone's minds... none of the cast expected the outcome they got.

With a jet engine, it works as a thrust reverser because the jet heats the exhaust so you have a higher pressure on that side compared to the intake... same way a full scale thrust reverser works.

The mind blower was that it worked with the electric motor spinning the prop. Newton's law says that it should not have moved, so there had to be "something else" going on.

 

Well, the mythbusters episode isn't really accurate because the plan is moving faster than the tarp allowing the plane to apply a higher amount of thrust and as soon as the plane started that it wasn't in contact with the conveyor so its still unproven...