will it take off?

[RayH]

Maybe it will just appear red or blue (Doppler effect).

Exactly, it will change color, either darker or lighter. Just like sound does. Think about a car speeding towards you. It sounds higher pitched coming towards you than it does going away. Its because of the change in the speed of the sound coming from it relative to your position.
Heres another one. Whats the speed of sound in space?

 

[BTDT]

How do you amuse 120 stuck inside tractor jockeys? Ask them a question about flying. Ha Ha

 

[NewToy]

Exactly, it will change color, either darker or lighter. Just like sound does. Think about a car speeding towards you. It sounds higher pitched coming towards you than it does going away. Its because of the change in the speed of the sound coming from it relative to your position.
Heres another one. Whats the speed of sound in space?

No sound in a vacuum. You can demonstrate this by sticking your head in a Oreck bag and turn it on. No one can hear you hollering. I have tried it.

 

[BTDT]

No sound in a vacuum. You can demonstrate this by sticking your head in a Oreck bag and turn it on. No one can hear you hollering.

But the speed of sound in space is same as on earth, else how do the astronauts communicate. (you are correct about no sound in vacuum)

 

[NewToy]

There has to be an atmosphere to conduct the sound waves. When in space they have an atmosphere in the spacecraft or sound would be the least of their worries. Astronaut to astronaut is a radio transmission as is the ship to the astronaut on a spacewalk. The spacesuit also has an atmosphere to conduct the soud waves to the microphone then it is converted to a radio signal.
John

 

[MossRoad]

All I know is I ain't standin in front of that plane when the pilot revs up the engine....

I used to work at the airport pumping gas, cleaning planes, etc.... one bright, winter day I went out to the ramp to park a nice Piper Cheyenne, a twin engine turbo prop. I brought him around and waved him forward, then gave him the stop sign, then the X so he'd shut off the engines. Instead, this clown, ah, err, I mean pilot revs up both engines. The wheels were locked but it really didn't matter as the plane shot forward on the ice towards me. I dove to my right and the left prop passed within inches of my legs. I got up, gave him the finger, went inside the office, locked the door, went out to the parking lot and went home for the day.

Now had that plane been on a treadmill, would I have had a better or worse chance of having to change my pants?

 

[MossRoad]

... 1954 V-35E Bonanza

That reminds me of an old joke...

Q: What are the two most dangerous things in aviation?
A: Two doctors in a Bonanza!

 

[MossRoad]

Okay, after writing this I was on my hour commute home, and I realized that maybe this isn't this simple. There is almost a paradox here that the plane has to be moving at all for the conveyor to move the other direction. It is like a word problem, the answer is in the question.

I also began to understand those that said the wheels didn't make one bit of difference. The engines made forward thrust and the wheels would just be spinning much faster than normal. I retract my stationary argument and say that it will fly. I need a beer after that one....

Congratulations!!! You and I were on the losing side of this debate until we thought about it for a while. Untilllll I thought of this example....

Put on some roller skates and stand on a treadmill. Hold a CO2 fire extinguiser under your arm and point it backwards. Have someone turn on the treadmill and fire off the fire extinguisher. You will shoot forward no matter what the speed of the treadmill, right? Except that according to the original question, the treadmill will match your wheel speed. In order to go anywhere forward, your wheels would have to turn faster than the surface of the treadmill. Soooo, I am back to the school of thought that this is a tough question.

Picture me am lying on the ground next to a mile long treadmill with my fingertip on the center of the hub of the airplane's wheel. If the wheel turns forward at all, the magic treadmill will turn in the opposite direction, so the hub of the wheel will never leave my finger, right? How could the plane gain any airspeed if it isn't leaving my finger?

I've changed my mind again, the plane won't fly because the wheel can never leave the spot next to my finger because the magic treadmill won't let it.

 

[MossRoad]

Speaking of flying. Shot this last spring. These fish are only 2 years old and they have learned this quite fast. Check out what is the the lower Tuna's mouth. It's hard to see in a low res version. It is a fish with wings in place of pec fins (about a 6" span) that get up out of the water and fly in order to escape. (sometimes).

They aren't flying, they are gliding.

 

[BTDT]

Congratulations!!! You and I were on the losing side of this debate until we thought about it for a while. Untilllll I thought of this example....

Put on some roller skates and stand on a treadmill. Hold a CO2 fire extinguiser under your arm and point it backwards. Have someone turn on the treadmill and fire off the fire extinguisher. You will shoot forward no matter what the speed of the treadmill, right? Except that according to the original question, the treadmill will match your wheel speed. In order to go anywhere forward, your wheels would have to turn faster than the surface of the treadmill. Soooo, I am back to the school of thought that this is a tough question.

Picture me am lying on the ground next to a mile long treadmill with my fingertip on the center of the hub of the airplane's wheel. If the wheel turns forward at all, the magic treadmill will turn in the opposite direction, so the hub of the wheel will never leave my finger, right? How could the plane gain any airspeed if it isn't leaving my finger?

I've changed my mind again, the plane won't fly because the wheel can never leave the spot next to my finger because the magic treadmill won't let it.

Only if the planes engines are off. If engine produces thrust, it's up, up, and away