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Loophole. Takeoff across the runway. Then wheel speed can happily match treadmill speed up to takeoff. Just have one hell of a crosswind until you get off the ground.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Although I had a classmate in college ask (while watching a fighter jet taxi past us) how is power sent from the engine to the wheels. The pilot giving us the tour answered (without missing a beat): "through a crankshaft".
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In "The Jewel of the Nile" (sequel to the "Romancing the Stone"), there's a scene with an F-16 taxiing by. It was a full-scale mockup; if you looked at the wheels, you could see a drive shaft coming down from the fuselage, with a universal joint connecting it to the wheel.

Somebody found the fake plane in a junkyard....
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Ron Wanttaja
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
This is the wording of the original problem that started all of this mess:
"Imagine a 747 is sitting on a conveyor belt, as wide and long as a runway. The conveyor belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?"
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One thing that's ambiguous about that problem statement is the definition of "speed of the wheels." Does it mean the speed of the wheels relative to the ground? If so, then If the plane is not moving, then the conveyor belt isn't either. In a 172 for example, if the conveyor belt is moving at -80 knots and the wheels are moving at +80 knots, then in still air the airspeed will be 80 knots, and all the pilot has to do to take off is rotate.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Loophole. Takeoff across the runway. Then wheel speed can happily match treadmill speed up to takeoff. Just have one hell of a crosswind until you get off the ground.
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Better yet turn around. Wheel speed at takeoff: 0. Just a much longer takeoff roll distance.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, the conveyor would have to match the airspeed, so it would also have to approach infinite speed instantaneously as soon as you crack the throttle until the plane is airborne. Maybe the Navy should look into this...
 
Jim K said:
Better yet turn around. Wheel speed at takeoff: 0. Just a much longer takeoff roll distance.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, the conveyor would have to match the airspeed, so it would also have to approach infinite speed instantaneously as soon as you crack the throttle until the plane is airborne. Maybe the Navy should look into this...
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Or would it just be a regular stationary runway? Now my head hurts.
 
Mtns2Skies said:
Loophole. Takeoff across the runway. Then wheel speed can happily match treadmill speed up to takeoff. Just have one hell of a crosswind until you get off the ground.
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You gonna need a REALLY wide runway for that! Unless you got a Maule or Supercub, and how's that ground loop gonna look?
 
I'd be more worried about the treadmill itself taking off due to the Magnus effect.
 
wanttaja said:
In "The Jewel of the Nile" (sequel to the "Romancing the Stone"), there's a scene with an F-16 taxiing by. It was a full-scale mockup; if you looked at the wheels, you could see a drive shaft coming down from the fuselage, with a universal joint connecting it to the wheel.

Somebody found the fake plane in a junkyard....
View attachment 126562
Ron Wanttaja
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Quickly... polish it up and sell it to Russia as the newest secret weapon currently under development.!!
 
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