Plane on conveyor... Will it ever take off?

A plane is standing on runway that can move (some sort of band conveyer). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer to be exactly the same (but in opposite direction).

The question is:

Will the plane take off or not? Will it be able to run up and take off?

No, it will never take off.


Unless it is vertical take off plane

The plan can't take off because it requires lift gained from the aerodynamics of the wings and the air effecting it. It gains lift by increasing speed and the air forcing it upward. If the plane is moving along a conveyer belt that doesn't allow any displacement of the craft itself, then the air speed required to lift the plane isn't there. Hence no take off.

Hi all,
My 2¢, the plane will be able to take off, as long as its source of propulsion is independent of ground speed (I'm not aware of any aircraft that use driven wheels to achieve flight). As the plane gains speed on the belt, the belt will cause a slight increase in drag from friction in the wheel bearings, but the load on the engine is largely due to the airflow around the plane. The plane could take off, it would just need to use a bit more power. Now if this were a sea-plane under similar conditions I'm not so sure it could take off. The friction of moving the floats and fuselage through the water is probably pretty substantial. Untill next time...

Unlike automobiles, jet engine planes doesn't rely on friction force between wheels and conveyer belt. It will start moving and take off.

hell yes!

How the hell will it start moving if the band will compensate for its movement???

This could make airports a whole lot smaller.

It cannot compensate, because there is no force feedback between airplane jet engine and the belt, except small amount of friction in the wheels

It will take off! But I wouldn't give much for it landing safetly. The tires most likely would have burst/burned on take-off, having rotated at perhaps twice their normal speed on the belt. Don't try this one!

The plane will not take off, because for an airplane to take off, there has to be movement. This is just like a car going 60 and a conveyer belt going 60. Since the car is not moving, an airplane woudn't either. But for an aiplane to stay up, there has to be enough air to lift up the wings.

Yes, the plane will take off, practically as it normally would. If you couldn't see the "runway" moving, you would see no difference to a normal takeoff, unless you could discern that the plane's wheels were spinning twice as fast as normal.

The reason: The plane, even if on the ground, accelerates relative to the AIR! Thanks to its wheels there is very little friction between it and the ground it stands on, so what the ground does is of almost no importance.

Now, if you would put wings on a car, that would be different. The takeoff would not work, because the car uses its wheels to push itself forward relative to the GROUND. It would not achieve any speed relative to the air, so its wings could create no lift.

The plane cannot take off. the lift on the plane is due to air speed. the plane must move through the air.

I'll add to my earlier post. (tires burn.....)

The plane most certainly will take off! Thrust from its engines acts on the surrounding air--has nothing to do with the ground or the belt the plane is on.

Said another way, the belt speed will always be to slow, will not hinder the planes acceleration ALONG THE BELT untill take-off speed is reached. The plane will ALWAYS ACCELERATE ALONG THE MOVING BELT, so long as the engine thrust is high enough to overcome belt/tire drag.

Of course the belt will have to be long enough for the plane normal take-off distance!

As I said earlier, kiss those tires goodby!

Imaging a rope attached to the plane, that pulls him forward. Whatever belt is beneath it, the plane will still move forward. Jet engine thrust is just like the rope.