# Mythbusters - Airplane on a treadmill!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 17, 2008, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862 "2008-01-17T14:24:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/21 "2008-01-18T18:43:35Z")
[QUOTE=singular1]
Well, I hate to be “that guy”, but I’m in class and somewhat restricted on searches - where’s the thread y’all are talking about?
[/QUOTE]
[Plane on a treadmill column](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/060203.html)
Comments:
[Speaking of treadmills, read this.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357311)
[Plane on a Treadmill, redux](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361338)
[A formulation of the airplane/conveyor belt problem that “works”?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=363904)
[Planes with “0” airspeed can fly?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=373453)
[Flight and the Conveyor Belt](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=357014)
[Conveyor belt?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=396863)
[Plane on a Treadmill - SOLUTION](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=361386)
[Airplane taxiing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=409570)
[The Airplane and the Treadmill](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423394)
[error in the “will the plane take off”](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=432720)
[RE: A plane is standing on a runway. . ." No, it’s not. Here’s why.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=445235)
---
### Author:  [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/22 "2008-01-18T21:45:36Z")
[QUOTE=1920s Style “Death Ray”]
Many people posting on aviation forums, e.g., PPRuNe, are not aviators.
[/QUOTE]
Indeed, but some of those answering that the plane wouldn’t take off were aviators themselves.
---
### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/23 "2008-01-18T21:56:42Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin]
Indeed, but some of those answering that the plane wouldn’t take off were aviators themselves.
[/QUOTE]
You don’t have to be a mechanical engineer to drive a car and you don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to fly a plane.
---
### Author:  [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/24 "2008-01-18T22:59:51Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong]
You don’t have to be a mechanical engineer to drive a car and you don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to fly a plane.
[/QUOTE]
So… everyone who said the plane would lift off on these boards _was_ an aeronautical engineer? I don’t follow 😕
You don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to know the wheels of your plane aren’t powering you down the runway to take off.
---
### Author:  [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/25 "2008-01-18T23:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin]
Indeed, but some of those answering that the plane wouldn’t take off were aviators themselves.
[/QUOTE]
Says who? Them?
Maybe they were. Being an aviator doesn’t make you smart. I think if you asked any pilot what propelled an aeroplane on the ground they’d give you the right answer. Some people just aren’t all that flash at applying their knowledge to a “practical” problem.
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### Author:  [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)
#### Post date: [January 18, 2008, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/26 "2008-01-18T23:59:43Z")
You don’t have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind is blowing.
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### Author:  [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2008, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/27 "2008-01-19T00:01:49Z")
[QUOTE=Pushkin]
So… everyone who said the plane would lift off on these boards _was_ an aeronautical engineer? I don’t follow 😕
You don’t have to be an aeronautical engineer to know the wheels of your plane aren’t powering you down the runway to take off.
[/QUOTE]
I’m saying that being an aviator doesn’t qualify you to know why a plane flies. There is no reason to give their opinion any more weight on this matter.
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### Author:  [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/28 "2008-01-19T06:41:33Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong]
I’m saying that being an aviator doesn’t qualify you to know why a plane flies. There is no reason to give their opinion any more weight on this matter.
[/QUOTE]
Actually, I took a private pilot ground school course in high school, and they spent some time explaining what made a plane fly, what each of the airfoils did and how they affected how the plane flew, and even the basics of how carberator and fuel-injection engines work, so being an aviator might actually imply some education and experience on the subject.
That said, I don’t know if such courses are required for a pilot’s certification, or even if 99.99% of such courses were as detailed on such subjects as mine was. It’s entirely possible that most courses skip that stuff and start by telling you how the airspeed gauge works.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2008, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mythbusters-airplane-on-a-treadmill/433862/29 "2008-01-19T15:03:46Z")
[QUOTE=Snarky\_Kong]
I’m saying that being an aviator doesn’t qualify you to know why a plane flies. There is no reason to give their opinion any more weight on this matter.
[/QUOTE]
I would be highly suspect of the ‘aviators’ on the other board that think the planes wheels propel it down the runway.
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