think about this...

[CrazyEyez]

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I could give the answer, but that would kill the thread and we don't have enough MS Paint yet. Eurotrash has been brilliant so far... I'm waiting for more entries.

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Fine. I'm not giving up. I want to understand this.

The plane has to move forward to generate lift. I can't get my around how the plane can move forward while still maintaining wheel speed = conveyer speed. Give me a hint.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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Wow. This thread is brilliant! How is it possible that only 3 or 4 people in this thread actually understand the answer to this question?

The answer has already been given in this thread a couple of times but here's a hint, how do you think rockets take off if they have no wings?

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I'm fully admitting I'm stupid because I can't understand the OP, but I'm pretty positive your rocket analogy doesn't apply here. The plane doesn't have rocket engines and they aren't aimed downward.

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You know, there are rocket-propelled planes. Imagine that this plane is the Bell X-1 (first manned vehicle to break the sound barrier).

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I will agree, however, that the rocket analogy doesn't exactly apply here. It's not completely irrellevant, though.

[CrazyEyez]

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Wow. This thread is brilliant! How is it possible that only 3 or 4 people in this thread actually understand the answer to this question?

The answer has already been given in this thread a couple of times but here's a hint, how do you think rockets take off if they have no wings?

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I'm fully admitting I'm stupid because I can't understand the OP, but I'm pretty positive your rocket analogy doesn't apply here. The plane doesn't have rocket engines and they aren't aimed downward.

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You know, there are rocket-propelled planes. Imagine that this plane is the Bell X-1 (first manned vehicle to break the sound barrier).

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Now you're just [censored]ing with us.

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Wow. This thread is brilliant! How is it possible that only 3 or 4 people in this thread actually understand the answer to this question?

The answer has already been given in this thread a couple of times but here's a hint, how do you think rockets take off if they have no wings?

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This is a great post for two reasons.

1. The tone of the post.
2. The way the author believes planes and rockets are the same, just tilted sideways, and goes so far as to say it's a "hint"

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It is a hint and I never said they were the same.

[4_2_it]

As long as the thrust of jet engines can overcome the drag of the conveyor belt then the plane will take off. Damn, I wish I could remember more from my high school physics class 20 years ago! Patrick, is one of Newton's Laws involved in this? I remember that seemed to be a theme in most high school physics exercises.

[Patrick del Poker Grande]

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I could give the answer, but that would kill the thread and we don't have enough MS Paint yet. Eurotrash has been brilliant so far... I'm waiting for more entries.

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Fine. I'm not giving up. I want to understand this.

The plane has to move forward to generate lift. I can't get my around how the plane can move forward while still maintaining wheel speed = conveyer speed. Give me a hint.

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I'm not sure what meaningful hint I can give you that wouldn't give away the explanation. I seriously suggest busting out a good free body diagram.

[Eurotrash]

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I'm not sure what meaningful hint I can give you that wouldn't give away the explanation. I seriously suggest busting out a good free body diagram.

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I'm surprised these simpletons still cannot grasp it despite the diagram I painstakingly laid out for them.

[LetYouDown]

The key here is that the belt isn't able to prevent the plane from having forward motion. A car moves forward by applying energy to the ground, a plane moves forward by applying energy to the air. The wheels will spin significantly faster, but otherwise it will have no affect on the speed of the plane.

The interesting question to me at this point is if the brakes on the wheels are applied, what happens. Also, if the plane isn't using any thrust to move forward but the belt is moving backward, do the wheels just spin or does the entire plane move?

[Slow Play Ray]

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describe a perfect sail

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in this case, one big enough to catch all the wind from the fan and redirect the force with 100% efficiency.

[BoogerFace]

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Now you're just [censored]ing with us.

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Yeah - everybody knows that planes fly because of pixie dust.