Maybe in this very long thread this has been answered. So why do we need runways? The amount of space that could be saved by installing massive treadmills instead of building these huge airports would be massive!! It would solve the housing problem by reducing the size of current airports and building houses on the property once occupied by runways..makes perfect sense? No?
For landings..ok..you need a runway. Take off? Why does an aircraft carrier use a catapult to launch jets. Vs just using a treadmill?
Don't even need treadmills! We can put giant fans in front of planes. They will become airborne and won't need a large treadmill. I am genius!
If we're using the original question it has to be a long treadmill. A catapult assists the plane not the wheels. I guess if you could fix the tires to the runway and release them at the take off velocity, well then.... you'd have a catapult.
That would mean the entire jet wheels included would have to out accelerate the speed of the treadmill. The question does not allow for that.
That was not a conveyor belt. That was a peice of canvas on the runway being pulled by a truck. Not a good experiment. When I think of a conveyor, I think of an assembly line type conveyor with rollers and bearings etc..
The plane wouldn't fly..no forward movement..no lift..the plane would be stationary..it can't push against anything ro produce forward movement in order to create lift..you need air resistance for lift..
The conveyor is not the ground. You can spin the wheels so fast that they don’t rotationally move telative to the ground but the shafts in the hubs will be moving relative to the ground/air. The plane moves. Move it fast enough and lift will occur. The system Could care less what the wheels are doing rotationally.
The question does not allow for the air craft to out accelerate the conveyer. The only way the plane takes flight is if its able to build negative pressure under the wings..without forward movement.. it cannot take off.
The entire post is funny. Mostly the part about being on a treadmill and having ski's means it can no longer produce thrust.
Maybe I'm reading too much into the question. In order for the plane to take flight..it must build up speed. That would mean it has to move faster than the conveyer speed in order to create lift. Seeing as the wheels are attached to the aircraft..and the aircraft needs those wheels to convert thrust to ground speed so the wings can do thier job..the aircraft must travel FASTER than the conveyer is moving. The question doesn't allow for that. It states the conveyer maintains the same speed of the aircraft at all times..if that is the case..the plane can't build ground speed..it would be stationary no matter what the engines are doing..because the forward movement of the wheels would be canceled by the opposite movement of the conveyer. If indeed the plane could take off from the treadmill.. there would be no need for a catapult system on an aircraft carrier..just install a treadmill on the ship and be done with it..it should work no?
How is it an aircraft "needs those wheels to convert thrust to ground speed"? The wheels are doing nothing but holding the weight of the craft and allowing it to roll. As to your last question, I'm not sure if you are serious? A plane would be able to fly from the surface of a conveyor despite of it (as it is of little to no influence) not because of it. All of this has been discussed and there are ways of explaining it that meet the criteria of the question. Bottom line is, no matter how the question is worded, a conveyor is not capable of holding an aircraft stationary.
An aircraft needs to reach take off speed. Whether the conveyor is stationary, moving with the plane or moving against the plane is inconsequential. So in terms of the question as it was asked,no, it doesn't need to go faster than the conveyor, it just needs to reach take off speed. If that is for example, 100mph, the conveyor could match the planes acceleration, there would be zero aircraft wheel rotation and at the time of takeoff at 100mph the plane, tires and conveyor would match speed
Dont need a conveyer on the ship or runway for that matter. Just move the aircraft carrier or treadmill at 200 knots - 300 knots. No, one minute, here's a better solution: In fact the earth at the equator moves at approx 900 knots so we could just sit them on the ground at the equator and they will get airbourne by themselves. Obviously there is a lack of brains in this forum so it might work.
Haha, well said. So funny when people think it would fly. Why not just put treadmills on an aircraft carrier and make it 1/10th the size…. (As you said) Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
