Adam's Top 10 Reasons We Won't Revisit Plane on a Conveyor Belt
10. There's no way it's affordable to put a bigger plane on an even bigger conveyor belt.
9. The engineering involved in putting a larger (heavier) plane on a bigger (more durable) conveyor belt and pulling it faster is prohibitive.
8. It would take too much time to put a bigger plane on a conveyor belt. We just don't allot that kind of time to a revisit.
7. A revisit is usually triggered when we get information that is NEW, AND has a (snowball's) chance (in you-know-where) of changing our minds. Neither of those two criteria have happened in this case.
6. If you think we need to show why a plane that's not moving won't take off, you're missing the point.
5. If you think we need to take into account the wind created by the conveyor belt itself, you're missing the point.
4. Jamie thinks it would be a waste of time.
3. I think it would be a waste of time.
2. If you really think about it, we got it right.
1. Come ON! We put a gall-durned actual, honest-to-goodness plane on a bona fide conveyor belt and it TOOK OFF. What MORE do you people WANT?! If you're not satisfied by that, I doubt that anything we could do would help.
(text of link added by MythMod to benefit those with dial up internet access that have problems with the link - MM)
This message has been edited. Last edited by: mythmod,
Actually, I understood how the experiment worked from the start, and I agree with the results. I don't know what all the fuss is about. The more you think, logically, about it, the more it seems that you, mythbusters, are right about the plane.
The myth was, in essence, "CAN a conveyor belt prevent a plane's acceleration."
The answer is NO. Baring mechanical failure, the plan is being pulled from the props, NOT THE WHEELS.
If I put an RC car on a conveyor belt, had the belt moving at 15 MPH, and the car moving at 15 MPH, the car wouldn't move. However, if I attached the car to a fishing pole, and began reeling it to me at 15 MPH, and the conveyor belt was moving at 15 MPH, the car would be moving toward me at 15 MPH. The wheels on the car would be spinning 30 MPH, but since they have nothing to do with what is moving the car toward me, it doesn't matter how fast they spin (up to the point of mechanical failure). If the conveyor belt increased in speed to 30 MPH, all that would happen would be the wheels increase the speed they are spinning to 45 MPH, but they car could keep moving forward.
It doesn't matter how fast the conveyor belt is going. The force applied is STILL wheeling the car 10 MPH toward me. Unless the wheels fail, it's going to move toward me. Simple physics.
This is still one of my favorite myths done to date, one the Mythbusters got absolutely RIGHT (a real rarity, to be sure ).
Originally posted by death_mage: Read the whole sentence.
i did. i also understand what you meant, just trying to get you to see what you are typing
now if you said If an RC car moving at 15mph drives onto a treadmill moving whose belt is moving at 15mph in the opposite direction, the car will not move
To me honestly, it's really quite ridiculous that this is being discussed so much, and people are actually wanting them to revisit it. The myth was done perfectly. End of story.
Originally posted by death_mage: Read the whole sentence.
i did. i also understand what you meant, just trying to get you to see what you are typing
now if you said If an RC car moving at 15mph drives onto a treadmill moving whose belt is moving at 15mph in the opposite direction, the car will not move
Yes it would. A car doing 15 is doing 15. A car would only be less effective. A goat on a conveyor doing the same speed will walk off the belt
Originally posted by death_mage: Read the whole sentence.
i did. i also understand what you meant, just trying to get you to see what you are typing
now if you said If an RC car moving at 15mph drives onto a treadmill moving whose belt is moving at 15mph in the opposite direction, the car will not move
Yes it would. A car doing 15 is doing 15. A car would only be less effective. A goat on a conveyor doing the same speed will walk off the belt
the guy i was quoting was talking about a treadmill keeping a car stationary. the one in the example has a constant speed.
Myth busted, done correctly, plane flies, if you think otherwise you simply don't understand what's going on and by this point you never will. Willful ignorance of the highest magnitude. You have to strive to be that dumb.
As a pilot, this was a no-brainer to me. Planes fly because of their motion relative to the air, not relative to the ground. With enough of a head wind, a plane doesn't have to be moving relative to the ground to take off.
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