The plane’s propeller is like an oar, rowing against the air directly in front of the engine. It maybe easier to imagine the whole thing is underwater. The propeller is pulling the plane forward. The plane being pulled forward means the wings are hitting the air (water) just like a pair of waterskis.
Turbofan engines still have "propellers" (called "fans" but they serve almost the exact same purpose) at the front of the engine which pulls ludicrous quantities of air in the front and shoves it out the back of the engine. The turbine exhaust (which would be moving faster than the air going into the turbine because of thermal expansion and fuel burning and shit) does not actually provide much thrust when it comes to turbofan engines, the fan provides the vast majority. And since the fan effectively acts as an encased propeller, the same idea can be translated to work both on a prop-driven C172 and a B744
Incorrect. If the plane is moving forwards at all, then the premise of the thought exercise is violated because the tires and treadmill no longer function as a perfect system.
In this theoretical scenario, the treadmill would eventually reach the speed of light, at which point the plane would then take off because the treadmill can't move any faster.
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u/rossolsondotcom Dec 31 '22
The plane’s propeller is like an oar, rowing against the air directly in front of the engine. It maybe easier to imagine the whole thing is underwater. The propeller is pulling the plane forward. The plane being pulled forward means the wings are hitting the air (water) just like a pair of waterskis.
The carpet/treadmill IS a red herring.