We were ahead of our time when it came to out of the box thinking

So the jet is not moving, right? Why does the jet need a belt the length of the runway.
As jet engines reach max, there's no more air moving over the wings than before the engines were fired up.
Unless this is all about engine thrust, like a rocket... I don't get it.

no, I never really followed the first thread... but I'm a bit confused why it would take off
 
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SeVeReD said:
So the jet is not moving, right? Why does the jet need a belt the length of the runway.
As jet engines reach max, there's no more air moving over the wings than before the engines were fired up.
Unless this is all about engine thrust, like a rocket... I don't get it.

no, I never really followed the first thread... but I'm a bit confused why it would take off
Click to expand...
The wheels are free spinning, the propeller and engines push against the air. The wheels and belt are meaningless in the equation.
 
The belt is free spinning as well...You need wind moving over the wings to create lift...
unless you're a rocket
which I have in my pocket
 
Plasmatic said:
The wheels are free spinning, the propeller and engines push against the air. The wheels and belt are meaningless in the equation.
Click to expand...
Don't forget friction and gravity. They provide quite amount of resistance.

Also if the belt is dynamic as in it always matches the airplanes speed 1:1. How can it take off?

EDIT: Lets look at the opposite scenario. Airplane on belt. Airplane engines off. Brakes off. Belt starts to accelerate? What happens? Does it sit in its current place or does it move backwards? Why would it moved backwards if the wheels are "free spinning".
 
The thought of this happening in real life is not even worth it. Mythbusters did a shit job on trying to replicate that as they were limited in budget, engineering skills, etc. To properly do this experiment would be prohibitively expensive as you need to remove ALL variables but the ones this question propositions.
 
Jets have wings for a reason
Rockets don't have wings, cause they don't need 'em. edit
The belt always spins at the same rate as the wheels, instantaneously changing as the plane
are those not the rules?
... friction isn't a factor...
except for melting the tires off
 
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Can someone tell me how this plane takes off??
Cause in my mind,
it just sits there spinning its wheels....
until a crosswind pushes it to the side
and the pilot overcorrects with the rudder
and the plane goes spinning off the treadmill
 
or
the plane is sitting there spinning its wheels
until a gale force hurricane flairs up
directly in front of the light jet
lifting the jet off the treadmill
where the pilot, engines, headwind
work together to pick up enough speed
to fly
 
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