Plane on a Treadmill Rerun on Mythbusters

tonyw

tonyw

Well-Known Member
I think the Mythbusters guys said it best.

For some reason people just can't get their head around the idea that the plane's engine doesn't send power to the wheels, it sends power to the propeller.

What also surprises me is that the pilot who was flying the plane didn't think the plane would move. Very disappointing, but not surprising given some of the responses on this board.

And I'm also surprised that people are still arguing about it. It's still being hotly "debated" on the Mythbusters site!

Uh, hello, they put a plane on a treadmill and the plane took off. What more do you want?
 
I missed that episode the first time around so I'm glad I saw it last night. No surprises really, but something I wanted to see and they didn't do, was a comparison is time from power application to LOF. I'm thinking it should be a little bit longer then when taking off from a static surface.

Other then that, it was pretty well done.
 
They should have put wheel spin speed sensors on the wheels of the plane. Then they could show people exactly what was happening.
 
wheelsup said:
They should have put wheel spin speed sensors on the wheels of the plane. Then they could show people exactly what was happening.
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:yeahthat:

That would have shown the wheels were rotating twice the speed of the treadmill and it would have demonstrated that the wheels aren't relevant at all!
 
tonyw said:
:yeahthat:

That would have shown the wheels were rotating twice the speed of the treadmill and it would have demonstrated that the wheels aren't relevant at all!
Click to expand...

Exactly! I was also very disappointed that the pilot of the little plane thought it would not fly :-( It makes perfect sense to me! Power acts on the air not the ground. ....Oh well time for school :(
 
THE PLANE WILL NOT TAKE OFF! I SAY AGAIN...THE PLANE WILL NOT TAKE OFF...IT's SCIENCE!

sciencehk6.jpg
 
I watched the original airing of the episode. But since then I've changed my mind and now believe the airplane will not take off during this rerun episode.
 
Got into this debate today with my class. Had everyone trying to fight me. "THE PLANE WONT TAKE OFF!!"

Got my teacher involved and all. It was great! I bet my whole grade and money in my wallet that it would fly...
 
Bigey said:
Got into this debate today with my class. Had everyone trying to fight me. "THE PLANE WONT TAKE OFF!!"

Got my teacher involved and all. It was great! I bet my whole grade and money in my wallet that it would fly...
Click to expand...


Our own P.T. Barnum in training. Hope you made some good money Bigs.
 
darrenf said:
Our own P.T. Barnum in training. Hope you made some good money Bigs.
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Oh it was sweet! The thing is i only had about $45 in my wallet. So everyone scrounged up to match it.

I think the only reason it got matched was because i told everyone that if i'm wrong, i'll pay out whatever i come up to EACH person.

So i got 45, and oh i got 45 extra credit points. Worth about a 1 1/2 test grades! :rawk:

oh but of course...this was all for "fun" i'm sure no real betting ever took place in a learning environment...;)
 
Am I to understand that this was tested and the plane actually lifted off?

I was always under the impression that it actually took increased airflow velocity over the wing to provide the lift, which would dictate the necessity for forward motion or one hell of a wind gust. How is this airfoil moving forward relative to the ambient air on a treadmill? I would swear that the only thing happening with this aircraft are the wheels spinning.

What gives? I am stumped if this thing actually got off the treadmill. :confused:
 
EnRoute said:
Am I to understand that this was tested and the plane actually lifted off?

I was always under the impression that it actually took increased airflow velocity over the wing to provide the lift, which would dictate the necessity for forward motion or one hell of a wind gust. How is this airfoil moving forward relative to the ambient air on a treadmill? I would swear that the only thing happening with this aircraft are the wheels spinning.

What gives? I am stumped if this thing actually got off the treadmill. :confused:
Click to expand...

It's cause you envision the plane sitting on the treadmill like when we run. What actually happens is akin to us running faster than the treadmill is set for - the plane accelerates forward on the treadmill. The speed of it is inconsequential, the plane will accelerate forward and generate lift just like normal.

Think about a frozen lake. If you floor the pedal in a car on said lake, the car sits there and doesn't move (wheels spin). If you firewall the throttle on a plane on a frozen lake, it will accelerate and take off like normal. Similar idea.

Here, watch this:
[YT]-EopVDgSPAk[/YT]


And just imagine a longer treadmill. It will take off like normal.
 
EnRoute said:
Am I to understand that this was tested and the plane actually lifted off?

I was always under the impression that it actually took increased airflow velocity over the wing to provide the lift, which would dictate the necessity for forward motion or one hell of a wind gust. How is this airfoil moving forward relative to the ambient air on a treadmill? I would swear that the only thing happening with this aircraft are the wheels spinning.

What gives? I am stumped if this thing actually got off the treadmill. :confused:
Click to expand...

Damn it, Tony, do you see what you've done! :banghead:
 
I think this whole experiment has been misrepresented. Plane and simply, for this airplane to fly it needs to be accelerated (however) into the relative wind. Period. An airplane can not sit motionless with exception of the spinning wheels, on a treadmill and become air born. No way, no how.

Now if the airplane is on a very very long treadmill and accelerated as in the above video, then sure, it would be just like any other takeoff with the exception of the wheels spinning much faster prior to liftoff.
 
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