Jim,
Actually the question is a "loaded" question, IMO. According to Myth Busters, it can and did. I AGREE with you 100% in reality.
Those that say yes it can, and along with Myth busters, - "flying" versus "Take Off" are two different things.
I used to fly control line model planes in the late 50's and through the early 70s. As you probably know, those kind of engines produced enough power to take off straight up. I made one of my own design with the wing area to include 1/4 of the area as flaps. That plane never rolled, It jumped of the ground every time if I had the flaps down at all.
The point of that and the "take off" is that IF the plane has a powerful enough engine to suck and push its way upward off the ground regardless of the wind speed over the wings, it will do it.
The reality is that today's normal planes and jets cannot. Even fighter jets can't do that with all of their power. They have to have a catapult to get enough speed to let it fly in a short time because the jet engines cannot generate enough power to make it fly from a standstill. It takes forward wind speed INTO the engines to help generate enough power to make them fly, even with afterburners. ONCE enough forward speed is achieved, engine power can make some jets go straight up, but not from a static start. AND a rolling tarmac/runway is a static start.
(Rocket assist take offs are a different story.)
Back to the experiment - It will take off on power alone if the power is enough to keep it moving in its appointed direction. This is NOT flying.
What most people don't realize is that the rolling surface and wheel speed is a "miss-direction" in that people focus on this aspect of it, as I did. The backward rolling surface and subsequent forward motion produced by the prop or jet are irrelevant, IMO. It is the power of the plane or jet to pull itself up and keep it on that trajectory until controlled flying speeds are met. IF there is enough power, (power to weight ratio) it will, but not because of a backward rolling tarmac and generated forward rolling speed.
You would never do this with a 747 without some kind of warp drive.
Actually the question is a "loaded" question, IMO. According to Myth Busters, it can and did. I AGREE with you 100% in reality.
Those that say yes it can, and along with Myth busters, - "flying" versus "Take Off" are two different things.
I used to fly control line model planes in the late 50's and through the early 70s. As you probably know, those kind of engines produced enough power to take off straight up. I made one of my own design with the wing area to include 1/4 of the area as flaps. That plane never rolled, It jumped of the ground every time if I had the flaps down at all.
The point of that and the "take off" is that IF the plane has a powerful enough engine to suck and push its way upward off the ground regardless of the wind speed over the wings, it will do it.
The reality is that today's normal planes and jets cannot. Even fighter jets can't do that with all of their power. They have to have a catapult to get enough speed to let it fly in a short time because the jet engines cannot generate enough power to make it fly from a standstill. It takes forward wind speed INTO the engines to help generate enough power to make them fly, even with afterburners. ONCE enough forward speed is achieved, engine power can make some jets go straight up, but not from a static start. AND a rolling tarmac/runway is a static start.
(Rocket assist take offs are a different story.)
Back to the experiment - It will take off on power alone if the power is enough to keep it moving in its appointed direction. This is NOT flying.
What most people don't realize is that the rolling surface and wheel speed is a "miss-direction" in that people focus on this aspect of it, as I did. The backward rolling surface and subsequent forward motion produced by the prop or jet are irrelevant, IMO. It is the power of the plane or jet to pull itself up and keep it on that trajectory until controlled flying speeds are met. IF there is enough power, (power to weight ratio) it will, but not because of a backward rolling tarmac and generated forward rolling speed.
You would never do this with a 747 without some kind of warp drive.
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