Quote:
Originally posted by ndxterra:

If the treadmill is say...the length of a runway, then yes, the plane can take off.


The length of the treadmill has no bearing on this. The plane will move no matter how long the treadmill is.

Well, ok, it matters in that if the treadmill is the length of the plane, the plane will move off it and on to the tarmac and then take off.

Quote:
As stated previously the wheels will simply spin at a speed equal to the takeoff airspeed (assuming no head or tail wind) plus the velocity of the treadmill at the point of takeoff.
Which is where, if I'm not mistaken, the original question is worded incorrectly (or badly, anyway) - say the wheels continuously match the speed of the treadmill.
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"Nature has constituted utility to man the standard and test of virtue. Men living in different countries, under different circumstances, different habits and regimens, may have different utilities; the same act, therefore, may be useful and consequently virtuous in one country which is injurious and vicious in another differently circumstanced" - Thomas Jefferson, moral relativist