Mythbusters punk'd whole internet

[TraumaRN]

From Discovery Channel

Jamie and Adam take wing to test if a person with no flight training can safely land an airplane and if a plane can take off from a conveyor belt speeding in the opposite direction. Tory, Grant, and Kari jump on some Hollywood-inspired skydiving myths.


So despite being in TV guide and on discoverychannel.com that they would do plane on a conveyor belt discovery channel punk'd the entire internet, and especially ATOT since we have such hot debates about the plane on a conveyor. I must say I was highly disappointed.

Damn you discovery and damn you mythbusters!

 

[FoBoT]

no way
are you seriuos?

what time i gotta recored that

 

[nakedfrog]

I can't remember if I have this scheduled to record or not. I'd better check.

 

[Ns1]

Sorry, partial hijack


did they ever come to a conclusion on roaches surviving a nuclear blast?

 

[DanTMWTMP]

dmdanadmndamnmndamndamndamndmndmndamndamndamndamnadmnadmndanm must recored!!

 

[Homerboy]

Im not watching (hate the show) but Ill mark this thread for an update.

 

[lokiju]

Already set to record

 

[jagec]

They better not screw this one up, or we'll never hear the end of it.

 

[ITPaladin]

huh?

The plane is going against the belt direction? I don't get what the test is.

Obvisously if there is no lift on the wings it will not fly if it is running opposite the way the belt is going.

 

[MaxDepth]

My friends at a Halloween party, dressed as Jamie and Adam.
Very Scary

 

[tasmanian]

Originally posted by: ITPaladin
huh?

The plane is going against the belt direction? I don't get what the test is.

Obvisously if there is no lift on the wings it will not fly if it is running opposite the way the belt is going.

There is lift on the plane. The planes engines will be going but the plane wont move because the wheels are going the oppisite direction. It will take off.

 

[thecrecarc]

OMFG for real!?!?!? Im so gonig to watch this.

 

[coldmeat]

I don't get it... Is the plane staying in the same spot on the belt, or is it moving up it?

edit: I get it now, nm

 

[randay]

this is great, but unfortunately, this thread is doomed

 

[mordantmonkey]

the thread is obviously doomed because the conveyor belt will have to keep moving faster and faster to keep the plane stationary in order to keep it from taking off.

 

[Demo24]

Discovery hosts videos on their website right? The only way I'll be able to watch this until reruns.


I'm pretty interested to see how they rig up the conveyor belt.

 

[ultimatebob]

Really? Cool!

I'm putting down $5 Paypal on the plane NOT taking off

 

[BradT]

FINALLY! AN END TO THIS!

 

[NanoStuff]

They're probably going to screw it up like everything else. The least they can do is test with double conveyor speed so all the assholes that think the belt can't stop it can finally stfu.

 

[JRich]

The plane takes off.

/thread

 

[dullard]

The belt can go infinitely fast and even then, THE PLANE WILL MOVE FORWARD. The wheels will not exert any significant force against the direction of the engine thrust.

Since the plane moves forward, there will be moving air under the wings.

Since there will be moving air, there will be lift.

Since there is lift, the plane will take off.

The error is thinking that the plane will be stationary, a conveyor belt cannot keep the plane stationary. In other words, if you hold a toy car on a conveyor belt, can you move the car forward? Yes. Same with the plane. Same thing happens, no matter how fast the belt moves. The belt will not prevent you from moving your hand holding the toy forward.

As soon as you realize that the plane isn't stationary, you see that the plane will take off.

 

[FrustratedUser]

I never even understood what the myth is all about but I'll watch for sure.

 

[dullard]

Now, if they change the myth, then it won't take off.

For example, if the plane is tethered with a strong tether, so that the plane can't move, then it won't take off. In this case (different from the myth), the plane is stationary and thus no lift = no takeoff.

 

[FoBoT]

why would they tether it, we never said anything about a tether
that should be pretty obvious that if you tie an airplane to the ground it can't fly

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: FoBoT
why would they tether it, we never said anything about a tether
that should be pretty obvious that if you tie an airplane to the ground it can't fly

I just want to show what the "plane = not take off" are actually thinking about. They think a conveyor belt can tether a plane. When in fact, the belt cannot keep the plane stationary. These people are just misinformed, and misinformed people who use perfect logic will still be wrong in their conclusion. Their logic isn't wrong, their assumption is wrong.