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The old "plane on a conveyor belt" debate

On a normal runway tyres have twice as much KE as you would expect because they are rolling. But in the 747 they are about 1,000 kg vs the aircraft’s 200,000kg or more, so I make it about 0.5%, absorbed evenly through the take-off run.

On landing, I suppose the aircraft’s translational KE will drop by the same 0.5% over a much shorter period when the wheels touch, but because KE is speed squared, that’s only 0.25% off the airspeed.

Note: I don’t land 747s, so I am happy to be corrected :-)

Last Edited by DavidS at 12 Apr 13:10
White Waltham EGLM, United Kingdom
41 Posts
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