Apparently there is a big debate about this subject and finally someone will try and solve it! The original riddle was:
“A plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyer). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyer moves in the opposite direction. This conveyer has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyer to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the plane take off?”
The Mythbusters are going to try and solve this myth!
I am not sure what the outcome will be but it should be pretty cool. Lets watch it on the Discover Channel on January 30 to see what happens!
January 29th, 2008
Will the plane fly? Since air speed is a factor in gaining lift, my answer would be no. If the plane is stationary, which would be the case, there would be no air movement over the wings, therefore, no lift.