Okay boys and girls....Physics 101 is in session.

[Dade]

http://www.digg.com/science/Physics_question:_Can_the_plane_take_off_

Click the link to read the story...then read a few of the comments and then comment here!

It's an awesome concept to think about.

Anyone still in highschool or taking any college level physics courses that might be able to get some hands on experience with this?

[invinciblegod]

Wouldn't be answer be no because for it to fly, air has to move through the wings. And if the conveyor belt moves at the same speed as the plane, it will be stationary so no wind goes onto the wings and therefore it cannot fly.

edit: oops. I forgot about the engines and turbines and stuff. Oh well.

[Thanatos01s2]

I say Hells yeah

Edit: this is too open, they don't give enough info., is this outside...in a hangar...  I still say yes though

[John]

Engines and Turbines would only create thrust, not lift, and if the thrust is cancelled, there's still no air moving over and under the wings for lift.  I say not with a standard plane, no

[Dios GX]

Lift is created from differences in airspeed velocity pressing against the wings.

Of course it won't fly. Are people that stupid? It isn't moving, therefore the wheels spin but there is no force being pressed against the wings. What is it going to fly WITH?

[Shooichi]

This seems way too simple for the reasons mentioned above. Why is there even a question concerning this? It's pretty damn obvious.

[Azrael]

Hell I don't even think the situation is at all feasible.

[daschrier]

Yes it will. While the belt counteracts the motion of the wheels, the wheels aren't fixed to the plane like a transmission in a car, they're just there to allow the plane to move on the land. It would be like having your car in neutral with a jet engine attached to it. Your wheels would spin but the car doesn't care.

Other way to think about it is like log rolling. You might not move anywhere because the log just spins in the opposite position you run in, but with a jet engine attached to you, you'd move :D

[Takezo]

Bernoulli says no, I say the Harrier.
http://www.history.navy.mil/planes/av8.htm

[Dade]

Lift is created from differences in airspeed velocity pressing against the wings.

Of course it won't fly. Are people that stupid? It isn't moving, therefore the wheels spin but there is no force being pressed against the wings. What is it going to fly WITH?

Read the article (http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060303.html) it gives pretty good reasons why it would fly.

[Dios GX]

How about the plane has no fucking airspeed.

It won't fly.

If these people are so sure of themselves they should build a conveyor and put a plane on it. Then when the plane doesn't do shit I can laugh in their faces.

Then piss on them.

[Esper_Crusader]

That was fairly easy to answer.  The plane needs lift....

[daschrier]

You people act like the conveyor belt will push the plane back. IT WON'T!!!

Think about this then. A car on ice, so the wheels just sit there and spin. We attach a jet engine to it, the car will have thrust and move forward because the ice and wheels no longer have a bearing on the forward motion of the car.

[Dade]

Ding-to-tha-mutha-fuckin-ding.

Here...this will make everything a little more clear. Taken from the article:

Here's the original question: "A plane is standing on a 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 the opposite direction). Can the plane take off?" (The Straight Dope: 060203.)

The implicit assumption is that if the conveyor belt's speed backward exactly counteracts the airplane's "speed" (whatever that means) forward, the plane remains stationary relative to the earth and, more importantly, to the air. (We assume the winds are calm.) With no wind moving past its wings, the plane generates no lift and can't take off.

But the assumption is false. While the conveyor does exert some modest backward force on the plane, that force is easily overcome by the thrust of the engines pulling the plane ahead. The plane moves forward at roughly its usual speed relative to the ground and air, generates lift, and takes off. Many people have a hard time grasping this (although it can be easily demonstrated in the lab), but eventually they do, smack their foreheads, and move on.

[daschrier]

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/191034-1.html

In favor of the plane flying, straight from an AV website.