Can a Plane on a Treadmill Take Off?

How about this, you chain the plane to the ground with a 120kt headwind and
six 600HP engines mounted on a 172 all developing max thrust. Will it fly?

The answer, of course, is yes because no tiedown at any airport I've ever
seen would keep that on the ground. By the way the tires and wings are
irrelevant to the puzzle.
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Travis
wrote in message
oups.com...
If you restate the problem as follows the aircraft will obviously NOT
fly.

The aircraft is on a conveyor belt.

The conveyor is programmed to move in such a way as to maintain the
aircraft at an airspeed of zero as measured at the pitot.

propwash?

No - It's a Skymaster and the examiner cut the front engine.

Oh-wait - It's a jet...

a.


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.