RCU Forums - View Single Post - MythBusters Airplane Takeoff Myth
View Single Post
Old 02-20-2009, 09:53 AM
  #24  
da Rock
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Near Pfafftown NC
Posts: 11,517
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default RE: MythBusters Airplane Takeoff Myth

Perfect traction.... a supercharged turbine with afterburner assisted treadmill........... anything you want, and all you'll have is a faster rotation of the wheels that're attached to an airplane that is taking off. Your magic treadmill and it's absolute traction can only turn the wheels faster. And that will have to be even faster when you add their acceleration to takeoff speed. The treadmill can hold back the rubber it contacts, but has no leverage or purchase on anything beyond that. It can only spin the tire faster, not hold it back. In the description of the problem, the trick is that they know most people don't understand what the treadmill can't do, and that hold back anything. So the statement that the treadmill will match the speed of the airplane is basically a lie.

There is no "traction" in the connection between the wheels and the airplane that can directly oppose the forward motion created by the airplane's power plant. Improving the wheel to ground attachment only adds to the speed the wheel will rotate before it leaves with the airplane.

Want a pertinent example from real life? Some jet fighters restrict throttle position for takeoff. Because they will tear the gear off before the tires leave the ground. But the plane does. Leave the ground. And leaves the wheels behind. And the traction in that example is more than enough for the experiment.




Time to quit wrestling with pigs........