RE: 747 on a treadmill conundrum..
September 6, 2014 at 12:46 am
(This post was last modified: September 6, 2014 at 12:53 am by naimless.)
If the plane's engines can generate enough air resistance without needing to move forward on the ground then surely it could just lift off like a helicopter and then fly off like a rocket as soon as the wheels weren't touching the treadmill...
I don't know enough about 747 engines to know if it is specifically possible in this case but I'd imagine it is possible in theory.
In reality I don't think it would ever be possible to exactly match the wheels of the plane with the speed of the treadmill as you'd need a large treadmill with a feedback loop that goes up to some insane speeds.
And even then the plane's wheel has to move before the treadmill can adjust its speed.
I don't know enough about 747 engines to know if it is specifically possible in this case but I'd imagine it is possible in theory.
In reality I don't think it would ever be possible to exactly match the wheels of the plane with the speed of the treadmill as you'd need a large treadmill with a feedback loop that goes up to some insane speeds.
And even then the plane's wheel has to move before the treadmill can adjust its speed.
