An airplane on a treadmill: will it take off?

[The Lone Gunman]

At some point it would crash into that barrier where you put your drinks!

and the barrier and the drinks would disappear as if they were not there either minced by the prop or crushed by superior mass, or are we talking model plane?

[jimjamuk]

obviously if it was one of those fancy treadmills that elevates the front end up then obviously the plane will fly up - otherwise the plane would crash into the nearest hedge

[The Lone Gunman]

I was delivering a van full of Budgerigars to the pet shop the other day and I thought would the van be any lighter if they were in flight during transit???

Shouldnt that be in flight in the transit in transit.

[TimberWolf]

The answer depends on how the question is interpreted. If the treadmill and plane are at rest wrt to each other (like a runner on a treadmill) and the question is will the plane generate lift (i.e. take off and fly away with a small increase in engine power) if the treadmill goes fast enough. Then the answer is no, there is no lift. If the plane can ignore its speed wrt the treadmill (unlike a runner on a treadmill except on people do the funniest things), in which case the treadmill is just a red herring except for a small amount of friction to overcome at the wheels, then the answer is yes.

[BoredBloke]

and the barrier and the drinks would disappear as if they were not there either minced by the prop or crushed by superior mass, or are we talking model plane?

If it's a treadmill to carry a 747 it's going to be a big barrier!

[gingerjedi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YORCk...eature=related

The conclusive part of the mythbusters link.

[original PM]

I have always wondered about this question (cannot open the Youtube link so am shooting blind)

If we rephrase the question and ask whether an airplane which is kept staionary (by some method such as a treadmill) would it take off

The answer is surely no - because no matter how much thrust the engines give the plane is stationary and therefore there is negligble air flow over the wings and thus the plane would not take off (if this was not the case I would imagine we would have a lot of very short run ways for taking off)

I reckon anyway??

[Advocate]

Randall Munroe (xkcd) has an interesting and informed article on the subject...

http://blag.xkcd.com/2008/09/09/the-...amn-treadmill/

[TimberWolf]

I have always wondered about this question (cannot open the Youtube link so am shooting blind)

If we rephrase the question and ask whether an airplane which is kept staionary (by some method such as a treadmill) would it take off

The answer is surely no - because no matter how much thrust the engines give the plane is stationary and therefore there is negligble air flow over the wings and thus the plane would not take off (if this was not the case I would imagine we would have a lot of very short run ways for taking off)

I reckon anyway??

Yes, but the thrust needed to keep a plane stationary wrt to the treadmill surface would be small (just enough to overcome friction in the wheels and the force of gravity, if it's on a slope).

[Churchill]

I have always wondered about this question (cannot open the Youtube link so am shooting blind)

If we rephrase the question and ask whether an airplane which is kept staionary (by some method such as a treadmill) would it take off

The answer is surely no - because no matter how much thrust the engines give the plane is stationary and therefore there is negligble air flow over the wings and thus the plane would not take off (if this was not the case I would imagine we would have a lot of very short run ways for taking off)

I reckon anyway??

Runways aren't just used for take-off!

In the words of Dave Gunson - "you can have as many take-offs as you like, they're free. We only charge for landings!"