Quote Originally Posted by buffdaddy18
ok. so imagine this, you are standing to the side of this airplane on a treadmill...... the treadmill is going backwards at 500mph, the plane is producing a thrust to make the wheels spin at 500mph....... is the plane not staying in the same place? yes. so where is the draft to produce lift coming from?
A planes engine does not provide thrust to the wheels. That is why the examples prove the point. Look at the skateboard example again. Turn the treadmill on to full blast and use your hand to hold the skateboard steady. You barely have to hold on to keep it in place, now push forward. That is what the engines do in a plane and you will see that the skateboard now moves forward...hence our movement and then you have lift.