Quote:
Originally Posted by ylexot  The plane does not take off unless it has airspeed. Unless it has forward motion or a whole lot of wind, no takeoff. |
Agreed. The crux of the question was if it was on a conveyor belt going the opposite way and matched the speed of the wheels, would the plane take off.
Answer is unequivocally
YES. The jet engines push the aircraft forward to lift off speed. The wheels are nothing more than legs to hold up the plane. They have nothing to do with propulsion, forward or backward motion. They can spin to pieces regardless how fast the conveyor goes.
Read Cle's last link. Splains it very well.
