Momma Angel wrote:I just started a thread on this and then was told there already was one.
I had heard this before and from what I remember, I was told that yes, the fly would add weight because even air inside the plane adds weight. Does that make sense?
Momma, your previous question on the other thread involved a "closed" plane, which has a relatively simple answer.
They are complicating this situation by proposing an open plane and a fly which is "in between" in some way.
The object of their question is to disturb the answer to the simple problem (of a closed plane) by making it less clear where the downdraft of the fly is primarily felt.
However, without going into the physics of forces, it seems to me that any fly which is keeping up with a plane is by necessity caught in an airmass which is moving with the plane, and therefor the fly still adds weight to the plane. If the fly becomes involved with an airmass which is not moving with the plane, then likewise it's weight will no longer be involved with the plane (and it will quickly lose sight of the plane).
