The "fan boat on a river" question
 

If you were driving a fan boat, whose maximum speed was 100mph, up river, and the river was flowing at 100mph, would the fan boat take off.... I mean move forward in relation to the banks of said river?

big wheeel keep on toinin'

Why to post in home base and not Nothing???

oooooo busterb is gonna open a can of whup-ass on this wrong-forum-postin' muthafucka!

:lol:

I'm gonna have to tagline that one.

Exact same answer as it the airplane on a treadmill IF airboat has no drag and air is not moving (relative to river bank). At 100 MPH, water excerts drag even on an airboat. Therefore airboat will do something less than 100 MPH in relation to air and river bank.

Now if airboat was going downriver, then airboat would do 100 MPH relative to air and river bank because water (moving at same velocity which means same speed and same direction) exerts no drag on the boat.

To post in home base and not to Nothing because home is where to plane thread be and boat thread be similar to nature. It belong in home. It do.

place the fan in front of the boat and you get lift... behind the boat you gots nada.

It would do 100 mph downriver only with the engine off. If the airboat starts putting energy into this dynamic system, at full stretch you get 200 mph relative to the riverbank -- before air and water drag rises enough to hold the boat at 100 mph relative to its immediate surroundings.

We're talking up-river here.

Tw wasn't; blame him. I often do. :D

You sure it's not off the wall? ;)

Depends on if you can steer the #@%! boat.

Yes, because the boat does not have full drag on the river, it glides over it.
It will maneuver just fine against the current.
The term is Airboat.