I haven't watched the MB episode yet, so I don't know what they found out, but I've said this before (in the other thread).

The real answer to whether a plane on a conveyor belt can take off is "It depends".

Many commercial aircraft require an airspeed of about 120mph to take off. (Light aircraft such as a Cessna take off at lower speeds.) If a treadmill moves exactly opposite to the aircraft's acceleration, then the mere fact that the treadmill moves at all implies that the plane is also moving. As the plane accelerates on the treadmill, the wheels and tires will be rotating at TWICE the "treadmillspeed" of the aircraft. Assuming ZERO windspeed, then groundspeed (which is not the same as "treadmillspeed") equals airspeed. When the groundspeed (and airspeed) reach 120mph, the wheels and tires will be spinning at the "treadmillspeed" of 240mph.

Note that F1 cars (and the [url= http://"http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x157l2_bugatti-veyron-at-top-speed"]Bugatti Veyron[/url]) can drive that fast, and the biggest problem these cars have at high speeds isn't wheel/tire friction, it's air friction (aka "drag"). Therefore, certainly there is not enough rolling resistance in the tires against the treadmill surface to provide much (if any) hindrance to an aircraft's engine. Nor is there substantial friction in the wheel bearings, which likely can spin at even higher speeds.

However, I did a little googling to find out what the speed rating is for aircraft tires, and I discovered that most of them are NOT rated for twice the take-off speed of the aircraft they're designed to be mounted on. Most seem to be about 50%-80% higher than the take-off speed of the aircraft.

So, if an aircraft on a treadmill cannot achieve its take-off speed before a tire fails, it will most definitely NOT take off, and will instead look a lot like [url= http://"http://www.metacafe.com/watch/407616/richard_hammonds_crash/"]this dragster piloted by Richard Hammond[/url]. But if by chance the tire does not explode before the plane achieves take-off speed, then it will fly.