Quote Originally Posted by absoludely
perfect! that was my thinking originally, that in order for the plane to MOVE FORWARD, the RATE at which the wheels were spinning could not equal the rate of the treadmill moving against it (and speed of the treadmill and the wheels really have no bearing on whether or not the plane will take off). see? i'm with ya, just had to make sure i was understanding all parts of this "situation"
Your logic is still off. It has NOTHING to do with how fast the wheels are spinning, NOTHING. As I said earlier, a plane could take off with NO wheels on the snow or no wheels in the water or locked wheels on a sheet of ice.

The plane has to overcome the friction produced by the wheels. Since the wheels are free spinning, then the only friction that they are producing comes from the bearings... that's it. Once it overcomes that little bit of friction, the plane moves forward.