Comment on Mythbusters

FuglyDuck@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

My favorite is planes on a treadmill.

Mostly because fans still argue about it and it’s hit the point they had to ban PoaT comments.

Which is insane as it’s not that difficult to understand. When a plane is on the ground, its gear/wheels will roll at ground speed, but the wings provide lift at airspeed.

If the ground is being moved under the plane (as on a treadmill,) the wheels will just roll faster.

Sure they’re not zero friction and some of that needs to be overcome; but this is something encountered on a daily basis all across the world- or rather, the opposite.

If the wind is coming from ahead, its airspeed is increased and the plane needs a lower ground speed to get into the air where if the wind is coming from behind, then they need more.

(This is why carriers set course into the wind when launching jets,)

At no point is ground speed and airspeed necessarily the same (i suppose you could have a calm day, but most days, the wind is blowing at least some.)

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