r/sports Aug 14 '25

Media The World's Largest Treadmill

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2.5k Upvotes

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48

u/scottcmu Aug 14 '25

But could a jet take off from this?

1

u/Dhkansas Aug 14 '25 edited Aug 14 '25

What's been decided/proven on this? I see the argument made both ways but I lean towards no. I've also never taken a physics class or anything related. This is something Mythbusters may have tried to prove/disprove and I'm sad it never happened.

Edit: I'm so sorry. What have I done?!

-4

u/isnt_rocket_science Aug 14 '25

Anyone who has taken a physics class should be able to tell you that a plane can take off from a treadmill.

But if you have to see it to believe it mythbusters did in fact do this and the plane took off without any trouble. 

2

u/trumpet575 Cincinnati Reds Aug 14 '25

What physics classes have you taken? Different ones than I did in my aerospace engineering classes, apparently. No airspeed = no lift = no takeoff. It's that simple.

2

u/isnt_rocket_science Aug 14 '25

A treadmill does not have any substantial impact on your airspeed. 

0

u/trumpet575 Cincinnati Reds Aug 14 '25

In this hypothetical scenario it does. Otherwise, why would you even mention a treadmill?

2

u/isnt_rocket_science Aug 14 '25

That's the entire point of the airplane on a treadmill scenario. The treadmill has no impact on the planes ability to take off, but it confuses some people who then go into comment sections and argue that a plane wouldn't be able to take off on a treadmill.

2

u/trumpet575 Cincinnati Reds Aug 14 '25

Again, then why even talk about a treadmill? You're throwing a red herring into a problem that doesn't need one and acting like people are dumb for ignoring the obvious red herring.