Can an airplane takeoff from a treadmill?

i am glad my post entertained you.
wink.gif


my post was not made out of any claim of knowledge or expertise or understanding i personally have about jet engines and how jets fly. the words written in that post were explained to me by a F-15/F-16 pilot who also flew with the Thunderbirds. He retired from the Air Force as a Full Colonel and then flew for Delta for 15+ years. Maybe he simplified it for me. i dont know. i just know thats how he explained it to me and i also know based on my godfather's explanation, i knew the plane would take off.

it was a fun episode to watch! have a great night!

Jason
 
The question that's been bugging me for years is:

Will a boat float on a treadmill???

I mean, seriously! I can't wrap my head around this one!!
 
So all those miles of runway are wasted space? We could just rev up the engines, and, whoosh, the airplanes would take off? Straight up? No runway needed? Damn, we've wasted a bunch of space on runways.
 
If a zombie wearing a wolf shirt was chasing a single engine cessna on a treadmill, would Mira Sorvino still eat an ice cream cone?
 
I think that the answer is both yes and no. The case for yes has been well represented, but the case for no has not.

To this point, I think the friction of the wheels has been unduly neglected. What if we had an infinitely fast treadmill? Wheels are not frictionless. The friction of the ball bearings will increase with speed (as the bearings heat up). At low speeds, this friction is negligible, but at high enough speeds, it could be a major factor. If the friction from the wheels is great enough to prevent the plane from acheiving the necessary speed (lifting force), then the plane will not take off. Furthermore, the force of the friction and the propulsion of the jets will create a moment arm that will cause the plane to tip forward and crash end over end.
 
The airplane on Mythbusters, an Ultralight, was in forward motion when it took off. Therefore, they did not adequately bust the myth. The "purpose" of the treadmill is to "hold the airplane in place", negating the lift "caused" by forward motion, as is experienced when throwing a children's balsa wood toy airplane. The Ultralight was in motion, therefore the myth was not busted. In addition, I just wanted to say "whoosh."
 
I really think the question "can a plane take off from a treadmill" implies that the plane would be standing still relative to the rest of the world while moving only in relation to the treadmill.

The question "can a plane go fast enough to take off even when it's on a treadmill" is really sort of stupid, isn't it?
 
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