Remember the Plane on a Treadmill discussion?

DevinB

I like traffic lights
Location
Down Or'm
It was still a good episode. I laughed when the dummy they pushed out of the airplane bounced in the field. To think, people have survived that, even walked away.

:ninja edit: it will take off!
 

timpanogos

Push to the Peak
Location
Heber
They did do it with the speed of the belt matching the take off air speed, not matching the speed of the wheels. I believe our little local thread about the issue stated that the belt would match the speed of the wheels
 
Last edited:

Spork

Tin Foil Hat Equipped
They did do it with the speed of the belt matching the take off air speed, not matching the speed of the wheels. I believe our little local thread about the issue stated that the belt would match the speed of the wheels

Which brings us back to the wheels are not providing any propulsion. Here's how I think the internet discussion should have been taken care of. Remove wheels from plane and place them on treadmill, replace with skis/skids/floats/or whatever you want just not wheels, Get in plane and take off.
 

cruiseroutfit

Cruizah!
Moderator
Vendor
Location
Sandy, Ut
They did do it with the speed of the belt matching the take off air speed, not matching the speed of the wheels. I believe our little local thread about the issue stated that the belt would match the speed of the wheels

No, the topic said the treadmill matched the planes speed in an opposite direction. The speed of a plan is rarely indicated by its wheel speed ;)
 

Cody

Random Quote Generator
Supporting Member
Location
Gastown
A plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyer). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer to be exactly the same (but in opposite direction).

I think the way the question was written, the speed of the wheels matched the planes speed--only in the opposite direction. So technically that would mean the plane was standing still--not because the treadmill was preventing it from moving, but because at that particular moment, the plane wasn't trying to move so the wheels were going the same speed.

But the treadmill would not prevent the plane from taking off.....obviously.

I think Brett just mis-quoted the question so it ended up being a little different than the purpose of the original question.
 
Last edited:

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
They did do it with the speed of the belt matching the take off air speed, not matching the speed of the wheels. I believe our little local thread about the issue stated that the belt would match the speed of the wheels

Initially they tested the plane to find out the maximum speed needed for take-off, which was 25mph for the ~400lbs airplane. Knowing this they could discard the idea of speed matching and shoot for maximum speed of greater than or equal to 25mph on the conveyor.

If you think about it, there is no need to replicate the 'speed' of the plane if you shoot for maximum take-off speed because you know that it has to reach at-least 25mph. And obviously the conveyor has no effect on the plane because it is not powered via the wheels.
 

Badger

I am the Brute squad
Location
South Salt Lake
for those that are lost here is the actual question

"On a day with absolutely calm wind, a plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyor). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyor moves in the opposite direction. The conveyor has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyor to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the airplane ever take off?"

notice no mention of wheels or the plane staying stationary on the belt.A plane speed is tracked by air speed.so for the belt to track this speed the plane most be moving .read the question as much as you want but it tells you the plane moves.......................
 
Top