Can a plane take off on a tread mill?

Is this an African or European airplane?
 
awheelterd said:
x2
the intelligence level here is much lower than i first assumed.
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No, that's not quite right. The answer to the original question is unknowable given the information at hand, probably deliberately so. Notice that descriptions of the airplane's speed are made without telling you what that speed is relative to... assume that it's relative to the treadmill (as many did), and you're wrong. Assume that it's relative to the air (as Mythbusters did), and you're still wrong.

The question allows you to make assumptions and draw conclusions based on your own preconceptions. Understanding the Bernoulli principle has nothing to do with it.
 
BigRedB2 said:
thats stupid if the plane gets to move forward. who cars.
i wanna see a plane powerfull enough to take off from a treadmill and no forward momentum.
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Use a Harrier.
 
saf-t scissors said:
No, that's not quite right. The answer to the original question is unknowable given the information at hand, probably deliberately so. Notice that descriptions of the airplane's speed are made without telling you what that speed is relative to... assume that it's relative to the treadmill (as many did), and you're wrong. Assume that it's relative to the air (as Mythbusters did), and you're still wrong.
The question allows you to make assumptions and draw conclusions based on your own preconceptions. Understanding the Bernoulli principle has nothing to do with it.
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Shawn, the question is vague, but saying "Could the airplane fly?" means that one may modify all other assumptions to fit. Not that there are that many assumptions that would cause the plane not to fly.

Assumptions that would cause the plane not to fly:

1. It's chained to the treadmill and neither the plan nor the treadmill moves.

2. The treadmill itselff moves in reverse and picks up debris which hits the plane causing it to no longer be airsafe and it gets dragged under the treadmill.

3. The treadmill has baffles on it that cause the air to be
disturbed and the required forward thrust of the engine cannot be extended to exceed this disturbance.

4. The plane is in space where there is no air. And noone can hear it scream.

5. The plane is broken.

6. The plane has wheel bearing issues that cause the force required to generate sufficient forward thrust to exceed the horsepower of the engine. (Think wright flyer kind of horsepower)



This is kinda like a conversation I once had at a park. My friend and I were piloting an R/C sailboat. People asked about it. We told them it was a sailboat. They asked what kind of motor it had. We said none, it's a sailboat. Aside from the servos controlling the angle of the sails and rudder there are no motors on that boat.

"So how does it go?"

"It's a sailboat. It uses it's sails."

"So where's the motor?"

"There is no motor, just the servos I told you about before. The wind is blowing it."

"So how does it move?"

"The wind is blowing it."

"So where's the motor?"

"There is no motor, just the servos I told you about before. The wind is blowing it."

"So how does it go?"

"It's a sailboat. It uses it's sails."

"So where's the motor?"

"There is no motor, just the servos I told you about before. The wind is blowing it."

Finally, they get mad at me for obviously being mean and stalk off.



J
 
Hey, I work on jets everyday.

We've loaded a treadmill on a plane before and it took off with it, does that count?


And,

you can't hold a Lear 60 at full power with locked brakes, it will drag the tires along the ramp/concrete.
 
hobie said:
Shawn, the question is vague, but saying "Could the airplane fly?" means that one may modify all other assumptions to fit. Not that there are that many assumptions that would cause the plane not to fly.

Assumptions that would cause the plane not to fly:

1. It's chained to the treadmill and neither the plan nor the treadmill moves.

2. The treadmill itselff moves in reverse and picks up debris which hits the plane causing it to no longer be airsafe and it gets dragged under the treadmill.

3. The treadmill has baffles on it that cause the air to be
disturbed and the required forward thrust of the engine cannot be extended to exceed this disturbance.

4. The plane is in space where there is no air. And noone can hear it scream.

5. The plane is broken.

6. The plane has wheel bearing issues that cause the force required to generate sufficient forward thrust to exceed the horsepower of the engine. (Think wright flyer kind of horsepower)
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No, you don't understand. The original question never indicates what the plane's airspeed is, only that the plane is moving relative to the treadmill. You're left to decide for yourself whether or not the plane is moving in relation to the surrounding air, and whether or not that speed is sufficient to achieve lift.

The treadmill moves backwards (opposite direction from the plane) at the exact same speed the plane is moving forwards. Under these circumstances, could the airplane take off?
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A plane moving at 30 miles an hour relative to a treadmill belt is not moving at all relative to the ground. The only correct answer is to ask more questions about the plane, the manner and speed by which it is moving, and whether or not its airspeed would exceed its stall speed.

So, African or European airplane?
 
The wording of the question leaves those other issues to interpretation. If the question was "will the airplane take off" then I would need more data. Since the question is "could the airplane take off" , then the answer is yes, as long as its airspeed can exceed its stall speed.
 
Now you're getting the idea. :flipoff2:
 
What if its a valuejet
 
Depends... is there a swamp nearby?
 
I eat bacon on a tread mill. Taste just as good there as anywhere.

Yum, yum bacon!!!
 
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