Mythbusters tackles the plane/treadmill

Will the plane takeoff?

  • Yes: The plane will takeoff.

    Votes: 72 56.7%

  • No: The plane will not takeoff.

    Votes: 55 43.3%
  • Total voters
    127
"You wait until after the show to say you thought all along it would fly?!?"

I voted that it would fly and my point about the motion of the aircraft being relative to the air and not to the ground/treadmill was made early on. I will say I am surprised so many thought it wouldn't fly.
 
Epitome said:
I voted that it would fly and my point about the motion of the aircraft being relative to the air and not to the ground/treadmill was made early on. I will say I am surprised so many thought it wouldn't fly.
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I was surprised that the pilot of the ultralight didn't think it would fly. The guy didn't have an understanding of the basic operation of his craft!

Jim
 
What did the Mythbusters crew think??? Were they split on if it would fly or not, or were they like "this is a dumb question, of course it'll fly but we'll prove it anyway"?

I missed it too:frown:
 
Forget all the talk about a plane being on a conveyor belt. Best I can figure, the earth rotates at about 1,000 mph. There is your conveyor belt. Now what speed does a jet take off at? Seems like it is a lot less than the earth's rotational speed. Not only that, but it doesn't matter if you are going with the "treadmill" or against it. Nuf said...:biggrin:
 
Night Train said:
Forget all the talk about a plane being on a conveyor belt. Best I can figure, the earth rotates at about 1,000 mph. There is your conveyor belt. Now what speed does a jet take off at? Seems like it is a lot less than the earth's rotational speed. Not only that, but it doesn't matter if you are going with the "treadmill" or against it. Nuf said...:biggrin:
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You da man Bob!!!

-Bob C.
 
The FAA called, they are revoking the license of any pilot known to think it wouldn't fly...starting with the pilot on the show.;)
 
From the show's website - feedback forum:

Jamie, Adam,
You blew it big time. I am a pilot and I can tell you that the myth about the airplane conveyor belt is supposed to be confirmed. If you would have used an actual conveyor belt and the AIRPLANE’S wheels were allowed to free spin, then the airplane would not have been able to move when power for takeoff was reached. Your myth conveyor belt still allowed the wheels to contact a non-moving surface through the tarpoline. A non-moving plane(with no headwind either) like your pilot told you, will not have air moving over the wings, therefore would not be able to produce lift. Your “mythical” conveyor belt was just that, mythical. It did not act as a real conveyor belt. A real conveyor, would not have allowed any friction with the tires and surface. Your tarpoline did allow friction with the ground, and therefor forward motion for the plane to fly.
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A true conveyor belt would keep the plane stationary in the same sense that full breaks would (the only difference being spinning wheels). Aircraft go to full power in take off configuration all the time and don’t take off. Smaller aircraft with high thrust to weight ratios may take off in the same sense that a helicopter would but that is not in the spirit of the myth.
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i agree with most of these posts… i just saw the episode and immediately said it was flawed. like most of you have said, as soon as i saw it, the plane was moving forward. As a pilot, and engineering student, it is obvious that if the plane wasn’t moving forward, then no air would pass over the wing meaning no lift. That is the point of an air foil, to create lift using Bernoulli’s principle, which requires air to flow over the wing. Their “conveyor belt” was a definite flaw. If the myth is that the plane is not moving due to a conveyor belt, then no flight… period, no matter what speeds the conveyor belt is, or the speed of the tires. if the plane is not moving, than it’s not gonna take off.
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flawed test. The original hypothises was that the plane would not be moving over the ground. That was not the case in this test. Plane was moving before it took off and creating air over the wings which is what it takes for a plane to create lift. That light sport plane used in the experiment has a big engine for its weight and does not need much air flowing over the wings in order for it to fly. Myth is definetyley not busted that was the worst put together experiment I ever saw. Do it right myth guys and read up on basic aerodynamics so you know what should happen for a plane to fly.
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You obviously did the plane on the treadmill wrong because a plane will only take off when air passes over the wings and the plane isn’t meant to move froward at all
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As a dedicated mythbusters fan who loves your show, I’m here to tell you that your airplane on the conveyor belt is busted. Here’s why: To get an airplane to fly depends on aerodynamic forces produced by airflow over the wing. If there is no airflow, there will be no lift produced and the airplane will not get airborne. If there is no wind then the plane must move relative to the surface of the earth in order to produce airflow over the wing and thereby lift. This is the propeller’s job, to get the airplane moving relative to the surface of the earth. In your experiment the plane was moving relative to the surface of the earth and thus producing airflow over the wing and enough lift to get it airborne. If the experiment had been true, with the belt and the plane “moving” at the same speed, then the plane would not move relative to the earth and no airflow would be produced over the wing.
The problem was that your belt was not fully supporting the airplane. The weight of the plane was transferred through the belt to the earth’s surface. This achieved sufficient friction with the earth to allow the airplane to accelerate relative to the belt and the earth. Your dedicated viewer,
Chip Lancaster, MS Aeronautical Engineering
37 years of pilot experience, San Diego, CA
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Madcat455 said:
What did the Mythbusters crew think??? Were they split on if it would fly or not, or were they like "this is a dumb question, of course it'll fly but we'll prove it anyway"?

I missed it too:frown:
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They knew it from the start and were kinda chuckling at people who thought it wouldn't take off.
 
bobc455 said:
From the show's website - feedback forum:
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These people need to be seriously removed from the gene pool. It's one thing to get it wrong because you don't understand. That's fine. But when you are shown mathematically and physics wise and THEN shown a phucking plane taking off from a phucking treadmill in real life and you STILL argue it won't fly, you need to off yourself.
 
As a dedicated mythbusters fan who loves your show, I’m here to tell you that your airplane on the conveyor belt is busted. Here’s why: To get an airplane to fly depends on aerodynamic forces produced by airflow over the wing. If there is no airflow, there will be no lift produced and the airplane will not get airborne. If there is no wind then the plane must move relative to the surface of the earth in order to produce airflow over the wing and thereby lift. This is the propeller’s job, to get the airplane moving relative to the surface of the earth. In your experiment the plane was moving relative to the surface of the earth and thus producing airflow over the wing and enough lift to get it airborne. If the experiment had been true, with the belt and the plane “moving” at the same speed, then the plane would not move relative to the earth and no airflow would be produced over the wing.
The problem was that your belt was not fully supporting the airplane. The weight of the plane was transferred through the belt to the earth’s surface. This achieved sufficient friction with the earth to allow the airplane to accelerate relative to the belt and the earth. Your dedicated viewer,
Chip Lancaster, MS Aeronautical Engineering
37 years of pilot experience, San Diego, CA
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That's very scary if he really is what he says he is:eek: Hopefully this bumbass doesn't design anything my butt will be on..
 
KevinB said:
That's very scary if he really is what he says he is:eek: Hopefully this bumbass doesn't design anything my butt will be on..
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They are over engineering it. Too smart and skip right over the obvious, or too stupid to realize it.
 
Pitbozz said:
These people need to be seriously removed from the gene pool. It's one thing to get it wrong because you don't understand. That's fine. But when you are shown mathematically and physics wise and THEN shown a phucking plane taking off from a phucking treadmill in real life and you STILL argue it won't fly, you need to off yourself.
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I agree 100%

This is a new low for humanity in my eyes. To have been educated in the subject matter and number one, say it won't fly, and number two, say that the tests showing that it does are invalid is insane to me. I'm just a mech... and to think there are pilots with M.E. degrees that say it won't fly. That's crazy.

If these people even had the concept partly correct they should be able to duplicate the conditions proposed by the question and NOT have the plane fly.

There is no way the plane could not fly short of the pilot not applying throttle or not letting go of the wheel brakes
 
in response to Chip the pilot with 37 yrs flight who wrote into the show

I noticed he called it a propeller....
I thought real pilots call them a prop and not a propeller

I guess when i was haulin ass in my boat up river and i hit that stump I shoulda said oh darn i think i damaged my propeller...but in reality i think i said somthing like HolyMutha F&^%$# $h1t what the F*&^ ...I think i hit a F*&^%*& stump and blew out my F*&^%$# PROP

good thing i had a spare that day
 
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