Can a Plane on a Treadmill Take Off?

"Gary Drescher" wrote:

"Don Tuite" wrote in message
.. .
but what
is the point of the original question in that case? Is it just to
trap a sloppy reader into thinking it's all about a crackpot VTOL
methodology?

I think the more interesting point is to notice the implications of not
transmitting force through the wheels. Even people who know that planes and
cars differ in that way may fail (at least at first) to draw the appropriate
conclusion about what happens to the treadmill plane when it applies takeoff
power.

Totally irrelevant. The answer is the same for a glider being towed to
take-off by a ground vehicle (except that you would want to change the
rear end or wheel size of the vehicle to cut the final drive ratio in
half, so that it could attain the doubled wheel speed necessary to
attain the needed forward speed.)

--Gary


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