Quote:
Originally posted by NY Madman:
Quote:
Originally posted by MattyX:

[b]Go ahead and try the balsa-plane-with-a-rubber-band-powered-prop trick on the treadmill at your local gym. See if it works, then try to figure it out.
Matt ...

The rubber band powered balsa wood plane experiment is not a good test of the scenario that is being discussed in this thread. No where near a good test. I think you know that.

::ETA:: Rockaholic- I'll get to your stuff tomorrow. I'm tired.

I also have a question for you....

You seem to think the plane on the aircraft carrier would not take off and you are using virtually the same argument that people are using against the plane on the conveyor belt. Why is that?[/b]
Explain to me, madman, why the balsa plane experiment is not a "good test."

There is a stipulation in the carrier scenario that the plane remain in the same point in space. There is no such stipulation in the conveyor scenario. In the conveyor scenario, the aircraft can move, regardless of what the surface does.

Once again, in the Carrier scenario, ROck stipulated that the aircraft must stay in the same position relative to the earth and the air. Of course, if you remove this stipulation, and replace the conveyor with an "infinitely ling aircraft carrier", the answers are exactly the same. The problem with Rock's question is that there's no way the motion of the aircraft carrier could affect a plane that's trying to fly off it, other than steaming downwind.