Mythbusters - Plane on a Conveyor Belt

Finally ending the debate.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• airplane
• mythbusters
• conveyor
• belt
• treadmill

[mitchio83]

@Tw0DrinkMike The wheels do not push off the ground to move the plane. Wheels on an airplane are free spinning and not connected to any kind of motor, similar to a skateboard. Ask yourself this.. would a conveyor belt hold a hovercraft stationary in this same situation? Why or why not?

[DrKrail]

why does mythbusters do these terrible experiments

[VADwellingPlace]

@wildly3 sorry, you're wrong. your electric stair analogy is wrong. to use your analogy, it would be like someone on an electric stair in a wheelchair, who is pulling themselves with a rope. if the stairs are going down at 5mph, and they pull themselves along the rope at 5mph, they will still go up the stairs at 5mph, but the WHEELS of their chair will be moving twice as fast.

[StarIessNight]

@Laurelindo Incorrect. The airplane does not fly because it builds speed from propellers. Propellers move airplane forward. If the airplane is on conveyer built making it stand still, the airplane will not have forward motion. What makes airplane fly is not what the propeller generates on the wing, its the air and pressures that form on the wings due to traveling from point A to B. if you are on the spot and there is strong wind with propeller off it will lift a little then fall.

[Laurelindo]

@StarIessNight The point in this myth was that the plane and the conveyor belt actually did move at the same speed, and even then the plane could take off.

That's largely because the plane builds speed from the propellers.

But yeah I see your point, I was also kind of hoping that they could make the plane stand still the first time I saw this.

[wrestles4food]

WAIT! IT'S NOT FLAWED! the plane moved forward and took off, but the wheels were spinning at a higher velocity than the would be without the backward-pulled conveyor belt. the speed at which the wheels were spinning was the only thing that changed.

[MrApollo141]

Ugh stupid auto correct. Since not dice...

[MrApollo141]

This is stupid. Dice the wheels have nothing to do with the speed of the plane, as long as the prop can overcome the sum total of the forces holding the plane back it will build enough speed to lift off. The fact that the wheels are spinning twice as fast is almost irrelevant. If you want the plane to remain stationary tie a freaking chain to it. Obviously it wont lift off then unless you force air under the wings

[StarIessNight]

I just saw this episode on tv. The way the experiment was implemented is flawed. the result is incorrect... and the myth is not busted. the airplane DID move on the track, thus there was forward motion, thus being still on treadmill did not apply, and typical aerodynamics did get in place.

[wildly3]

But the thing is that the plane isn't moving because of friction with the ground but because of the propellor which gets advantage of the air's resistance. A plane has loose wheels, so whether there is a conveyor belt or not is irrelevant.