Can the plane take off?

[NaiLed]

I saw this on another forum

A plane is standing on a runway that is made of a large conveyor belt.
The plane fires up its engines, but as it moves forward, the conveyor belt senses the speed of the plane's wheels and moves at exactly the same speed in the opposite direction.

Can the plane take off?

[Da1andonly]

no

the wings wouldn't get air! (and thus wouldn't be able to push the plane up)

[Jerome Scuggs]

yeah, it's all about speed.

[Zeebu]

what...

thats stupid

no relative air movement, no lift

[WuTang420]

there is no drive at the wheels only at the engines. therefor what the ground is doing is pointless. could take off as normal np. airspeed is airspeed, wheels have little to do with it but stabilize till it gets up

[Dack Falu]

plaen kent moev

[Aquatiq]

Yes, the plane can take off, as long as the wheels are equipped to rotate twice as fast as they normally would during takeoff.

(I see how this could be interpreted 2 ways. I'm talking about the way that doesn't use the wheels as what's -moving- the plane)

[thesearcher]

no, airflow = lift.

[Jerome Scuggs]

I take it back. I just realized... the wheels are interacting with the conveyor belt, but the engines are NOT, they are dealing with pushing air. Therefore, the engines will still push air behind it - and move forward. The wheels will just move alot faster, but the plane will still take off.

[Vihta]

there is no drive at the wheels only at the engines. therefor what the ground is doing is pointless. could take off as normal np. airspeed is airspeed, wheels have little to do with it but stabilize till it gets up

Yep, it's a plane not a car.

[Kyace]

Planes always take off into the wind so they can get greater airspeed at lower ground speed. What you describe is basically having a tail wind equal to your ground speed, so that your air speed is zero. No, a normal non-VTOL cannot take off in such case.

[thesearcher]

I take it back. I just realized... the wheels are interacting with the conveyor belt, but the engines are NOT, they are dealing with pushing air. Therefore, the engines will still push air behind it - and move forward. The wheels will just move alot faster, but the plane will still take off.

Plane wings work in such a way that when air is going past them, the pressure above the wing is less than the pressure below it, pulling the plane upwards. The jet engines on a plane are NOT there to provide upwards lift, they are there to provide enough speed (ie airflow past the wings) so that the wings can do their thing!

In the question, the plane is not moving, so there is no airflow so there is no lift so the plane cannot take off.

[Galleleo]

Searcher, what Jerome says is. The engine's don't drive the wheels, they take air in and push it out the back making the plane go forward. So the underground shouldn't matter cause the engines will make the plane go forward. The wheels will just turn faster and faster. But the engine pushing the plane forwards creates the airspeed needed.

[Jerome Scuggs]

Plane wings work in such a way that when air is going past them, the pressure above the wing is less than the pressure below it, pulling the plane upwards. The jet engines on a plane are NOT there to provide upwards lift, they are there to provide enough speed (ie airflow past the wings) so that the wings can do their thing!

In the question, the plane is not moving, so there is no airflow so there is no lift so the plane cannot take off.

Man, I'm autistic, I was building airplanes out of plywood when I was in the second grade. I co-piloted a small business airplane by the 5th grade. I know this, and that's why I stated what I did.

Imagine an airplane takes off on a runway. The wheels have NO EFFECT on the plane taking off - the engines do. The wheels just rotate and basically counteract the resistance of the concrete.

So if the concrete is moving opposite of the speed of the airplane... it just means the wheels will havr to rotate faster.

Here's an example of this in every day life: Planes take off at, say, 150 miles per hour. The earth rotates at 1000 miles per hour. By your logic, any plane taking off opposite of the direction of Earth's rotation should be traveling -850 miles per hour... but they don't. It's not the same thing, I know, but the principle is the same - the wheels are not what's putting the airplane into the sky, the wings, engine, and volume of air pushed are.

Edit: you also read the question wrong. Nowhere does it say 'the plane is not moving'. It says nothing about speed, it's just a mind trick. Seriously, would this question have been posted if it was so obvious? If someone posts a question like that, always second-guess your basic instinct choice. It's a psychological thing. The question leads you to believe the plane is not moving; that's what makes it a good riddle.

[Vihta]

In the question, the plane is not moving, so there is no airflow so there is no lift so the plane cannot take off.

There is no reason why the plane wouldn't be moving.