# Conveyor belt? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 19, 2006, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023 "2006-11-19T10:22:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![400yearsLATER](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/3ab097/32.png) [@400yearsLATER](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/400yearsLATER)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/1 "2006-11-19T10:22:34Z")
Your answer regarding the plane on a conveyor belt is completely ridiculous. Suppose you were right. Don’t you think the engineers who designed airports would have noticed it by now? There would be no NEED for really long airstrips. On land or on aircraft carriers. All you’d need is a conveyor belt. Get real pal. Use your head. ---
**Author:** ![mr.jp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@mr.jp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mr.jp)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/2 "2006-11-19T11:54:43Z")
:d ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/3 "2006-11-19T13:44:54Z")
Heh. As a public service: Cecil’s columns on the subject are: [An airplane taxies in one direction on a moving conveyor belt going the opposite direction. Can the plane take off? (03-Feb-2006)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060203.html) [“A plane is standing on a runway. . .” No, it’s not. Here’s why. (03-Mar-2006)](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060303.html) Previous threads discussing this are at: [Flight and the Conveyor Belt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357014) (the monster thread discussion the column) [Plane on a Treadmill - SOLUTION](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361386) (also discussing the column) [Plane on a Treadmill, redux](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361338) (another coliumn discussion) [Will a plane on a treadmill take off?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=348452) (the original GQ threadt hat Cecil probably should have read) [Speaking of treadmills, read this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357311) (more arguing than anyhing else, really) [If a horse dies on treadmill, will Dopers ever stop beating it?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357651) (the inevitable Pit thread) And, finally, whether or not you believe Cecil, there’s a difference between what is _possible_ and what is _optimum_. It’s possible to build furniture out of ice; that you can’t buy any from IKEA is more a matter of practicality than possibility. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/4 "2006-11-19T18:32:26Z")
> [@](#): > > There would be no NEED for really long airstrips. On land or on aircraft carriers. All you’d need is a conveyor belt. Get real pal. Use your head. So instead of a half-mile long strip of concrete, you’d need a half-mile long conveyor belt. How would that be an improvement? The conveyor belt might not make it any harder for the plane to take off, but it’s not going to make it any easier, either. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/5 "2006-11-20T15:12:47Z")
Actually, if the belt moved in the SAME direction as the airplane, it would shorten takeoff distance. (it could move opposte to shorten landing distance) But the maintainance and other requirements would far outweigh the advantages of a moving runway. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_Dubinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dbc845/32.png) [@Alex\_Dubinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_Dubinsky)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2006, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conveyor-belt/381023/6 "2006-11-20T21:46:36Z")
or a fan. we could build giant fans in front of planes. we would then tow the fans in front of the planes to get them to go places. i reckon every industrial city will have a fan-dock within 50 years.