Plane on a treadmill .. to be on Mythbusters

[omgwtfbbq]

Gnizmo said:
So long as the wheels are part of the body themselves, there is a treadmill that could stop the plane from taking off. A theoretical one at the very least. Since it is part of the body, a portion of the force used to push the wheels back will transfer to the plane as a whole. This makes sense since the plane cannot move forward and just leave a solid part of it behind. The problem would be one of getting a treadmill that could exert enough force on the wheels to completely counter the forward thrust of the engine without just breaking the wheels.

It would work similar to this. If I tied a rope around your arm and pulled back on it, could I keep you from running forwards? The power is all in your legs, but the effect on the body from an external source is still a factor. I think everyone here is assuming the treadmill will be using only the wheels of the plane for its speed, but I can't imagine why anyone would make that assumption. All modern treadmills I have seen can move on their own opening up the possibility to increase the force on the wheels independant of their actual motion.

Those scenarios are totally different. If you pulled back on a rope on my arm, then of course it would stop me. Same as if you tied the plane to something, it wouldn't be able to take off. Because the force provided by the rope always exactly matches the force provided by the plane/my legs. Therefore I won't move until either the rope breaks or whatever is holding it breaks.

This scenario is completely different. Essentially the treadmill is being attached to free running wheels. No matter how fast the treadmill is going, all it's succeeding in doing is spinning the wheels faster.