Can a jet on a treadmil fly?

[Diamondback]

The plane version of a "treadmill" is called an aircraft carrier--the wings do the flying and carry the rest of the plane along with them, and the carrier generates that extra lift by steaming at max power straight into the wind which is like a free 30 knots airspeed. This is also why you see B-52's pitch DOWN in climbout, the wing is set very high pitch-up (incidence) to maximize lift and once the rest of the plane catches up the wing settles down into normal flying attitude pitching the rest of the plane with it.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

That's a good start, but a gigantic treadmill moving at that speed would drag a lot of air with it in the boundary layer. Would the airspeed under the wing be greater than that over the wing?

That would be my guess too.

Let me put it this way, if you could launch jets with a conveyor belt don’t you think the Navy would have figured this out by now?

[Disciple]

It’s the airspeed over the wing that creates the low pressure area that lifts the wing.

So couldn't air rushing by under the wing, dragged by the treadmill surface, disrupt that balance?

[Diamondback]

So couldn't air rushing by under the wing, dragged by the treadmill surface, disrupt that balance?

You'd need a LOT of it in close proximity to the wing, and no treadmill is gonna get a boundary layer thick enough. Your viable "plane treadmill" is a catapult/ski jump/combo thereof aboard a ship with all engines ahead Flank at 30+ knots and a good strong headwind.

[eightmillimeter]

The plane will take off. The engines do not move the plane across the ground. The engines move the plane through the air (even when on the ground). The driving forces are applied to the air, not torque through the wheels.

[Disciple]

You'd need a LOT of it in close proximity to the wing, and no treadmill is gonna get a boundary layer thick enough.

Ever stood ten feet from a mile long freight train doing 60 mph? A treadmill "as wide and long as a runway" going 200 mph or whatever is going to have one hell of a draft. Not enough to disrupt the takeoff perhaps but it would have a significant effect.

[TomMcC]

The plane will take off. The engines do not move the plane across the ground. The engines move the plane through the air (even when on the ground). The driving forces are applied to the air, not torque through the wheels.

bingo!

[TMS951]

How is this even a mind bender?

Air must pass over the wing to create lift. The speed the wheels are turning don’t matter here. This is why things with no wheels like float planes can fly.

A treadmill going a million miles an hour would not slow a plane down. It’s jets are pushing it forward, not it’s wheels. It’s wheels are not powered.

I can’t belive I even took the time to type this.

[eightmillimeter]

bingo!

To go even farther...

Treadmill : Car = Wind Tunnel : Plane

[Artos]

So who is going to put on their bat suit & hover in the gym...I'm sure we can rig a unit to get the rpm's needed if it would work.

Without lift you are grounded...how does the belt speed under the tires put air speed under the wings??

How fast does a plane w/ wind speed stating she's going 100mph going against a 100mph head wind??