They could have saved some effort by going to NASA. They could have watched the space shuttle being moved on the crawler and asked "if we had a big treadmill that moved really really really really slow so it could match the speed of the crawler, and the engines on the shuttle were lit, would the shuttle fly?"

In an idealized setting where the plane and conveyor have maximum traction between them [for the sake of argument consider a cogged conveyor and matching gears for the planes' wheels]......then take this scenario a step further and imagine a conveyor drive that can instantaneously and infinitely match whatever the plane is trying to do. In this idealized setting, I can not see how the plane can attain any airspeed for lift off.

Just watch the program.
Jan 30 on Discovery.
It serves no purpose to discuss it any more than it already has been.

The topic of this thread as described in the initial post is the TV show MYTHBUSTERS.

Posts in this thread should be on the topic of the show, not the myth. Off topic posts are often deleted.

I have dun thot this over carefully--
If you put a treadmill in an airplane -and you run as fast as you can - will it make the plane take off faster?
Seems to me the energy expended will do something
But what?

[/quote]
I have dun thot this over carefully--
If you put a treadmill in an airplane -and you run as fast as you can - will it make the plane take off faster?
Seems to me the energy expended will do something
But what?
[/quote]

Why it tires the runner of course.[8D]

You can tell it's going to be a long winter when ye olde treadmill comes to the fore ------yet again

AHa! what about the friction from the runner's tires??

This reminds me of that dangerous downwind turn.

I saw the preview of the show, not impressed with the RC POC at all!
They should have gotten someone with a nice model who knows how to fly.
Interested to see how long the plane stays on the tarp they are dragging hope it doesn't get sucked up in the prop!

Watching what happens to that flapping end when the plane gets to it will be interesting.

We have cut that loss in half (retracts you know -- 50% duty cycle)!

The retracts use NO zero, zip energy!!!
While you may initially feel that is impossible -------Oh ye of little faith------- we have, minus a few nagging plumbing problems, harnessed a power source of astounding energy output (or is that throughput).

The secret power source is utilizing the force of BS from right here on good old RCU.
We can't find a unit large enough to express it! A billion Tetraflop-power??? ---perhaps.

Talk of limitless-------just use your imagination!
For the politicians it is "green" ---------- or at least can be if we add the right seed-----.

Besides the "nagging plumbing problem" ----- it can be handled!! -------
Right now the one big 'one' we still can't quite grasp is the ---- shall we say "smell" this system produces.
Absolutely unfathomable!

But then we all knew that beforehand didn't we?

I figure the plane will be quite a bit above the end of the tarp when it flies over it.

BTW, consider the problem of that truck dragging that tarp relative to the airplane. The tarp didn't look a lot wider than the spread of the tires. The airplane might not take off straight straight down the runway. And the tarp might not drag straight back. That ought to cause the airplane no problems from roll resistance but might cause the truck problems or affect the way the tarp is staying under the tires until they lift off. Unless the truck's drawbar is at ground level, it'll be pulling the tarp up from where the weight of the plane is on it. And the part that will come up will be under the tailwheel. The tarp will try to draw a straight line from where the mains pin it to the ground back to the drawbar. The problem will lessen as the truck moves away from the plane. But if the tarp tries to lift between the mains and the truck it's going to be lifting the tailwheel.

I'm betting the airplane is a STOL. And the pilot is an idiot. Rolling forward off a treadmill that's setup at ground level would pose no problems. The MYTHBOOSTERS tarp deal is ridiculous and nothing but a problem.

I wonder if they even know to take off into the wind?

I wonder:

If a harrier jet is sitting on the runway, and the ruway exactly matches the speed of the wheels (lets say zero for now), can the harrier jet still take off?

You'll have them stumped for months on this one....LMAO



Ronnie

That's too EZ-------of course it can take off as the Harrier initially rises on thrust alone. Air speed means Zip at this point---------now, following transition-------but it is already airborne.

A teaser....
http://community.discovery.com/eve/f...6/m/9621938849

I dont understand. The plane DOES take off? How is that possible. All they're doing is spinning wheels... with no air on the wing.... I dont see how it would take off? Can someone answer this in less than 10 sentances...

I think you will find that the engine is running and the prop spinning. Airplane don't care what the wheels are doing...
Evan, WB #12.

See post 36.

Aeronautics is BS. Planes fly becasue the people on the plane "believe" the plane will fly.
Crashes happen when doubt creeps into enough people to outweigh the positive lift from thought..

I noticed that Dr. Wogz avitar is flying...of course, there is no treadmill so we can't use that data point...

I noticed near the end of the "Lead Balloon" episode, that on the dry erase board was a list...and "when pigs fly" (or words to that effect ) was on there...

Hi Tall Paul
Did you notice that the full scale plane shown on your post, http://community.discovery.com/eve/f...6/m/9621938849 , has a pusher prop on a tractor engine? That plane is strange looking. I'm surprised the wing ribs are visible thru the covering like on some of our models.

The motor runs reverse to the usual.
The prop is correct.
Watch tonight.... 9 p.m. local.

O.K. big shocker..."Busted"
Who's surprised? (besides the pilot of the ultralight )