cjcampbell wrote:
Saw this question on "The Straight Dope" and I thought it was amusing.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060203.html

The question goes like this:

"An airplane on a runway sits on a conveyer belt that moves in the
opposite direction at exactly the speed that the airplane is moving
forward. Does the airplane take off?" (Assuming the tires hold out, of
course.)

Cecil Adams (world's smartest human being) says that it will take off
normally.

Assuming the increased tire friction doesn't cause a problem the aircraft
should take off but have twice the normal tire rotation speed when becoming
airborne. That's because the thrust is produced by the prop and it will
accellerate the aircraft into the relative wind. The conveyer belt is just
an entry to confuse the issue. For a car the situation would be completely
different since it produces forward motion by the tires which contact the
moving conveyer belt. The car wouldn't move at all.
--

Darrell R. Schmidt
B-58 Hustler History: http://members.cox.net/dschmidt1/
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