Mythbusters: Behind the Myths Tour
Uh, they said "standing still?"
From here.
Semi-definitive explanation from elsewhere.
How can an airplane take off if it is on top of a conveyor belt moving in the opposite direction?
From here.
Semi-definitive explanation from elsewhere.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
GORDON wrote:The one that said an airplane, standing still, could still become airborne. Problem was, their airplane wasn't standing still, was in motion, and had air moving over its wings producing lift.
No, they said if it were on a treadmill, with the ground going backwards, it could still takeoff (which is obvious, since the wheels are not connected to the engine).
I don't think you can find an example of them being wrong.
Edited By TheCatt on 1387132506
It's not me, it's someone else.
The whole point of the conveyor was to keep the plane stationary, otherwise what is the point? A stationary plane has no air moving over its wings producing lift. Wheels have nothing to do with a plane becoming airborne, nor, on a typical prop plane, does the propeller. The prop is to move the plane through space, so the wings can get lift. If the plane is stationary, it aint taking off, no matter how fast the prop spins.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Another one where I think they were wrong: they were reproducing the life raft free fall from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. That wanted to find out if a human could control a raft to a controlled landing onto a snowy down slope. Their experiment consisted of tying their crash test dummy's hands to a raft, taking it up under a helicopter, and cutting it loose to see how it would fall. Since it just tumbled and wrecked the dummy, they concluded that a human could not do it. Maybe a human can or can't, but they basically dropped a brick and called it a conclusion.
This is the equivalent of putting the dummy in the cockpit of an airplane, dropping it off a building, and when the plane crashes, concluding that airplanes can not, in fact, fly.
And there are other things half remembered.
This is the equivalent of putting the dummy in the cockpit of an airplane, dropping it off a building, and when the plane crashes, concluding that airplanes can not, in fact, fly.
And there are other things half remembered.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Wheels have nothing to do with a plane becoming airborne, nor, on a typical prop plane, does the propeller. The prop is to move the plane through space, so the wings can get lift. If the plane is stationary, it aint taking off, no matter how fast the prop spins.
That's the point.
Their experiment consisted of tying their crash test dummy's hands to a raft, taking it up under a helicopter, and cutting it loose to see how it would fall. Since it just tumbled and wrecked the dummy, they concluded that a human could not do it.
Really?
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Just now, just right this second, I am getting Catt's point about the wheels not being part of it. My entire take on the experiment was the plane being stationary and expected to take off, not the expectation that a conveyor could or couldn't stop the plane from being stationary. I thought the experiment was the plane flying, not about the conveyor being able to stop forward momentum.
Edited By GORDON on 1387136116
Edited By GORDON on 1387136116
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
They must have revisited it. That is nothing like what I saw.Malcolm wrote:Really?Their experiment consisted of tying their crash test dummy's hands to a raft, taking it up under a helicopter, and cutting it loose to see how it would fall. Since it just tumbled and wrecked the dummy, they concluded that a human could not do it.
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
That was exactly the point, since that is what the viewer question was. The point is that THE CONVEYOR DOESNT KEEP THE PLANE STATIONARY... and therefore it can take off fine.GORDON wrote:The whole point of the conveyor was to keep the plane stationary, otherwise what is the point? A stationary plane has no air moving over its wings producing lift. Wheels have nothing to do with a plane becoming airborne, nor, on a typical prop plane, does the propeller. The prop is to move the plane through space, so the wings can get lift. If the plane is stationary, it aint taking off, no matter how fast the prop spins.
It's not me, it's someone else.
TheCatt wrote:GORDON wrote:The whole point of the conveyor was to keep the plane stationary, otherwise what is the point? A stationary plane has no air moving over its wings producing lift. Wheels have nothing to do with a plane becoming airborne, nor, on a typical prop plane, does the propeller. The prop is to move the plane through space, so the wings can get lift. If the plane is stationary, it aint taking off, no matter how fast the prop spins.
That was exactly the point, since that is what the viewer question was. The point is that THE CONVEYOR DOESNT KEEP THE PLANE STATIONARY... and therefore it can take off fine.
I was arguing something completely different. I retract my objection to that episode.
Edited By GORDON on 1387137031
"Be bold, and mighty forces will come to your aid."
Malcolm wrote:Uh, they said "standing still?"From here.How can an airplane take off if it is on top of a conveyor belt moving in the opposite direction?
Semi-definitive explanation from elsewhere.
Airplane on a treadmill even got a website
Hah. Sc00p3d.
Diogenes of Sinope: "It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."
Arnold Judas Rimmer, BSC, SSC: "Better dead than smeg."