A Conveyor Belt Take-off | MythBusters | Season 5 Episode 28 | Full Episode 

rest in peace grant, you are very missed

Kari changed her hairstyle so many times in this episode

The pilot was right in so much as as long as the plane was stationary relative to the ground it would not take off because there's no air passing over the wings causing lift. However the propeller is pushing air behind the plane causing the plane to move forwards and as it IS moving forwards THROUGH the air it takes off.

15:49 *FINALLY!!* I've been looking for this version of this episode of Mythbusters where *Tory Belleci and Kari Byron act like a pair of numbnuts zombies* hunting for their last victim, Grant, not knowing or realizing he was safe in another room.

I dont believe that a pilot that knows how a plane works would believe that myth

I thought the whole point of the conveyer belt test was getting the plane to take off whilst stationary but with the belt whipping under it at the planes take off speed. Of course the plane is going to take off if it is travelling fast enough through the air for the wings to generate enough lift. The belt isn't affecting anything, except spinning the wheels. I feel like I've missed something.... Its blindingly obvious isn't it? All they've done here is to see an Aircraft take off. (whilst pointlessly dragging some canvas under the wheels)

The reason the plane took off isn't that the wheels spinned up faster because of the faster ground as that has no effect on the speed of air over the body and more importantly the wings. That was as a result of the motor driven propeller the body and wings pulling it through the air.

Cockroaches though are actually vulnerable to the cold. They can actually only live in tropical and sub-tropical regions. The only reason they can survive in temperate and artic regions is because of artificial heating from humans. However if there was a nuclear war where humans were wiped out they would no longer have that artificial heat and would die in all non-tropical areas.

Don't really get the thing with the plane on the conveyor belt. All the belt does is rotate the wheels. Everything else is as in a normal take off. Meaning it will require as long runway as normal to launch. (plus whatever the added friction from the higher-than-normal rotation of the wheels.

Ground speed doesn’t matter. It’s the air speed that matters. The belt could be going forwards (since the wheels are free spinning) for all we care and it will still take off.

That one time mythbusters gave bugs cancer

The intro already gets me hahaha love it

you can actually stop a plane from taking off on a conveyor belt if the conveyor belt is running fast enough that the fiction on the wheels are so great that they would not move any faster and thus keeping the plane stationary, although by that point the wheels will probably fall off or break very quickly😂

The plane one is actually really simple. Provided the aircraft has sufficient thrust to reach take off speed and overcome the increased friction caused by what is in essence higher ground speed relative to air speed acting on the wheel bearings then it shall fly. The wheels are only there to reduce friction and to preserve the airframe. They are in all honesty a superfluous component once the aircraft has reached sufficient lift. We saw this in the Messerschmitt me-163 Komet and the famous Douglas DC-3. The former dropped its wheels upon takeoff, the latter often flies with skis in place of the wheels. As the thrust is determined by the engines via the airscrew(s) (not propellers, at least in "correct" terminology) or through Turbo-fans or indeed jet exhaust, the unpowered wheels have next to no effect on performance. During the opening of this episode the airframe shown is a glorious example of a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) bush aircraft, for an aircraft of its size and mass it has thrust coming out out its ears, makes supercars look a bit anaemic. The runway could be going 4x the take off speed and she'll nose up without much fuss.

I thought the whole point of the experiment was the plane would be stationary on the belt but because it was moving forward on the belt it was getting air over the wings to provide lift.

They should have tried putting the foam filled car in the car crusher at the scrapyard!

Anyone got reminded of a Pokemon returning to it's ball when you hear the sound effects of their cutaways? XD

The 'biggest conveyor belt in history' is not even close to the world's largest. Here's a couple from near my old home town. -32.881485°, 151.755450° (4140 feet) and -32.334593°, 150.892923° (10,600 feet). That's just in the port. The real deal is at Mt Saddleback mine which is 31km long. (-33.048570°, 116.196060° Western Australia) . That's about 101,706 third world feet, more than an order of magnitude longer. Typical seppo hyperbole.

Now I get it. The speed of the conveyor belt doesn't really matter. Without friction (and engine off), the plane would just sit on the conveyor belt and remain stationary. Doesn't matter if the conveyor belt moves at 1 mph or 1000 mph. In reality, friction causes the plane to move in the same direction as the conveyor belt. I think that's where most of the confusion comes from. Most people know how planes work.

The US and their strange reluctance to use internationally recognized units... The International Committee for Weights and Measures have promoted the use of Grey instead of Rads already in the 70s ^^

who'd thought 15 - 20 years ago that an RC plane would one day be the scariest weapon in the history or the world?

Thanks for the uploads, greetings from Colombia

a sea plane can take off without wheels. for the love of God I don't understand how this is even a thing.

It's amazing that the pilot does not understand how a plane works

7:30 Perhaps one of the earliest introduction of German roach to the US

Is there an episode where they test the resilience of tardigrades? That would have been a epic, they can survive 600'000 rad... And many other crazy things

Yes but the conveyer belt had a jumbo in it - you need a bigger plane! :D :D :D

I insist, tested in stationary and fan blowing winds to the plain, the principal idea for the plain to lift off running forwards is take air under their wings so, a fan blowing "lift-off winds" to the plain will do the trick.

Air speed vs ground speed

Surprised they never used elephant toothpaste for the car prank

yep, i did not at all think about the fact that airplanes don't have powered wheels, lol

Remember when kari did the hot nurse photoshoot?

The problem with this myth, and I'm sure the reason for the argument, is that there are two different and unrelated speeds at play. Depending on how you read the myth, you will believe it or not; you don't have to be dumb to believe it. The only speed that matters for flight is AIRspeed. So to the question "can a plane take off on a conveyor belt" the answer was always going to be "yes". The only speed that matters to the conveyor belt (and the truck pulling it in this case (and at that speed wind resistance is not a problem) is GROUND speed. What a lot of people understand is "if the plane's WHEELS are moving as fast as the conveyor, will it take off? (Note: I mean speed of the wheels' circumference relative to the conveyor, ignoring the ground beneath in the MB test.) Here the answer is clearly "no", because the plane will have 0 air speed. But they didn't test that; it was pretty superfluous TBH

42:42 what the heck lol

I love your canel

Why would anyone with more than 1 brain cell think the aircraft thing would work 😂

An aeroplane’s wings don’t care what the wheels are doing. You could pull that belt at 200 miles per hour and the plane’s wheels would simply turn at a speed equivalent to that 200 mph plus it’s take off air speed (in calm air in this case) of 25 mph, and the plane lifts as normal. If anything the aircraft will take off a little earlier as it won’t have to overcome the inertia of starting the rotation of its own landing gear wheels. For all intents and purposes, the aeroplane will figuratively think that it’s taking off from a frictionless surface. The fact that the actual pilot himself bought into the myth and didn’t have the scientific reasoning to have already worked this all out for himself, busts a personal myth that I have, that all pilots are smart

Poor pilot. He will probably have to live with that for his whole life and nothng can be done thhat millions know that he didn't understand it. They should have cut it out.

Pilot sounds like zoidberg

I haven't gotten more than a second into this video and I just want to say I have long thought one of the planes tyres would pop, causing the plane to slide and crash off the back of the treadmill. I hope this video proves me wrong.

A plane takes off because air moving over the wings causes a lower pressure above the wings, and higher beneath that cause the wing to be pushed up. The ground speed is irrelevant, even to "Ground Affect". Line the wing with props to force enough air over them and it will get lift even if it was stationary. Admittedly it's minus the forward air speed so would require moving more air, but it would have vertical take off.

I'm amazed that there are conveyortards at all. The plane flies in the air.

rest in peace grant. sucks you're not around anymore

For the airplane myth it is technically possible to take of from a moving conveyer because the belt has a boundary layer of air moving with it witch could get large enough to reach the wings and generate lift (Edit: I realized I answered the wrong myth lol)

The only thing you need to realise for this is if you can’t move, the wings can’t create lift

Shouldve done bed bugs aswell theres so many myths around them and they r very resilient creatures all be it though they are a major pain also!!

One of my favourite episodes, totally fascinating, and the one I tell people about the most. Very counter-intuitive but once you understand it then it makes perfect sense!

The only way I see it would make sense for the myth to be proved, is applying the plane's brakes proportionaly to the ground speed, in order to obtain a stacionary plane. Airspeed will be zero and there'll be no lift force then.

These guys were something else😂😂

if the plane would pull its own belt it would not take off ever

24:40 that's fucking rad

How does mythbusters adam look both younger and older than tested adam

Isn't this season 4?

To bad they didn't have the worlds longest conveyor belt. The bagger 288 bucket wheel excavator has one over 3 miles long.

1000 Rad = 10 Sievert

NICHT SO TIEF RÜDIGER, NICHT SO TIEF!

I feel like they never actually clarify what the airplane myth is EXACTLY and that’s why there’s controversy. Can a plane take off from a “conveyor belt”? Yes. Can a plane take off while not moving through air take off? No.

So it was basically a normal take off?? Plane didn’t stay “stationary” so it doesn’t count right? I don’t really get it 😓😓😓

I dont quite understand the myths testing. The myth was specifically asking for "same speed", yet we continously overpower the ground in every "proven" case. For me, it was like the portion of "matching speed" was ignored? Or am I missing something crucial?

I honestly don't understand how people can be so uneducated (stupid seems a bit mean) as to debate the aeroplane thing. I only have high school physics and it's really bloody obvious

Meanwhile aerodynamists laughing at the corner🤣🤣🤣FSI

The problem with the airplane on conveyor belt is that they did'nt articulate the myth properly. It should have been called "Can an airplane take off on a conveyor belt, if the belt is the length of the take-off distance the plane requires to take off". If it's just an airplane sitting on a small conveyor belt the size of the airplane, it won't take off (eg it won't magically rise into the air as there is no air moving over the wings to generate lift)...

radroaches

So disappointing, of course the plane can take off if it moves forward. The whole idea is that the plane does NOT move forward because it is on a conveyor belt but then again a stationary plane wont take off.

There is a Nuclear Power Plant not a great distance from me and someone wrote on a sign that since the Plant opened the background radiation had increased by 15,000 rads..

Because of all the filler I had to resort to reading comments in order to learn if the fucking plane would take off or not.

RIP volvo

Umm wings moving through air generate lift

If this works, why don't aircraft carriers have conveyor belt systems on them? Between that, and the hook that catches landing plane, they would be able to get away with using much smaller ships to launch aircraft that way then.

Aren't aircraft carriers a form of conveyor belt?

To fly you need wind below and/or underneath you're wings so for mine understanding it's not going do work. (Noticed already placed this comment before seeing this video completely and sent it now at 44.50 after the man also said exactly the same.

bro got spinners on his segway

Wish they would have measured the airplane wheels rpm/speed on a normal takeoff Vs the conveyor take off. :(

yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyy

After seeing it all I still don't believe it because the speeds are not the same. you can see it even though the presenter said it.

22:33 I explaned this in my video, but you are wrong! It is effected by friction that occures in the bearing of the wheel. Like you said before there was *almost* no resistance. But what if the speed of the conveyor belt was insanely high? Watch my video for more.

Nicht so tief Rüdiger!

17:20 this is almost peak research facility: "we got a special grant to pay for the irradiation equipment but the institution's base funding had to pay for the security measures and it only got us a line of tape".

Was this plane thing an april fools or what 😂?

There are enough planes without wheels. Water planes, ice planes.....it confuses me that this is such a discussion. The plane to ground contact is simply irrelevant

Physique dont lie

Once you understand how planes work, you can't guess wrong.

That 'Pilot' they hired should not have a license if he thinks the wheels make the plane go up. What a bloody idiot but obviously they are out there.

How can people still not get it after watching this?! The belt could have been going twice as fast and the plane would still be able to takeoff unless the wheel bearings shatters first that is..

All the Prove here is A) American Pilots dont understand the Basics of how their Planes work. B) A lot of People on the Internet dont Understand basic Physics aswell.

I don't think this answers the question in the form that I've usually seen it: "Imagine a plane is sitting on a conveyor belt, as wide and long as a runway. The conveyor belt is designed to *exactly match* the speed of the wheels, moving in the opposite direction. Can the plane take off?" as it misses the "exactly match" part. If the conveyor belt perfectly matched the rotation of the plane's wheels at all times, I would expect that the plane wouldn't move from its position, and the propeller(s) by themselves wouldn't be able to generate enough airflow under the wings to lift the plane off the ground vertically. The reason why it worked in the MythBusters' experiment is that the plane was able to overcome the speed of the treadmill, therefore moving along the runway and generating lift.

The Best myth in 2023 is surely if the earth is flat or not right??

But the airplane was clearly moving forward therefore generating lift. That was not the point they were trying to prove. In order for this experiment to be valid , the airplane would have to remain stationary over the conveyor belt. Under this circumstances, the only way for the wings to produce enough lift for takeoff would be if there is enough headwind.

I cant believe how DUMB this Plane take off myth is. That pilot shouldn't be flying a plane if he thought the plane wouldn't take off. The propellor alone creates some lift as the wind passes over the Wings and Elevator. The surface the plane is on is irrelevant. You can even have a plane moving backwards and still remain in the air, its about air speed over the wings surfaces, not ground speed.

When this first came out, my first thought was "How can someone be stupid enough to think it wouldn't take off". And sure enough, I was right. Honestly, it's a really simple thing to figure out just in your head.

i dont get this.. the myth is the place that is stationary cant take off... this plane is clearly moving forwards and not being stationary on the belt...

This must have been the most stupid episode or rather the must stupid myths in the whole series. I mean just use your brain for 2 seconds...Anyway love the uploads.

So some people actually believe that airplane drive on wheels in the sky, or is that a myth?

Could someone explain? I still do not understand how that plane can take-off. Granted, the wheels aren't connected to the engine. The engine provides forward thrust to the plane by pushing air backwards. The flow of that pushed air can provide upward lift force to the wings. But the thing is, that pushed air is mainly concentrated around the fuselage. Not enough of it goes through the entirety of the wings to generate a sufficient lift force. The forward movement of the plane itself seems to be too slow for additional air from the surrounding to help. What am I missing here?

The plane clearly wasn't stationary , it was moving forward very fast

Does that mean the plane can launch without moving forward?

It's the air movement over the wings that cause the lift..... who are these people that don't know that??? That's why the wings are the shape they are.

If you replaced the wheels with fans to make airspeed MAYBE

This has to be the stupidest episode. I was almost in a panic attack at them seriously considering the plane one until Jamie painted out how stupid it actually is. And to think that the pilot didn't even understand the basic physics of the vehicle he's driving is astonishing.

If you put a plane on a regular conveyor belt, the plane crashes of the belt. They heavily imply the plane taking off while being in place and not the plane creating thrust to move over the ground. Misleading, heavily.