Quote Originally Posted by vteckidd
it will not take off.

all things being constant. The planes wheels are not the driving force, they merely guide the plane, the engine is what propels it down the runway.

if the conveyor belt matches the speed at which the WHEELS of the plane are turning, in essense, there will not be forward motion. to create resistance or lift there must be air present, with a object essentially staying stationary, the plane cannot lift off.

but i failed math class and physics, so who know. Ruiner does make a compelling argument.
Correct, the plane must move forward to make lift. You are correct in saying that the wheels are not the driving force. If they are not the driving force, then they should have no real bearing on the plane's motion, correct? Thus, if they do not affect the plane's motion, then it really won't matter how fast the conveyor belt is moving. If the plane gives SOME thrust, it will move forward.

However..........it is stated that the conveyor belt will match the plane's speed. The ONLY way for the plane to develop a "speed" is by moving forward. Thus, if the belt is doing 300mph, the plane is doing 300mph. That should be enough for the plane to develop lift (probably closer to 170-200knots, actually). If the plane is doing 500 knots, the conveyor belt would be doing 500 knots as well. However, the plane would be moving forward at that point.

Quote Originally Posted by tony
This conveyor has a control system that tracks the planes speed and tunes the speed of the conveyor to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction).