Quote:
Originally posted by Branden Burden:
NY - the question said nothing about the plane's ability/inability to move forward relative a point off of the belt.

If it was anchored and unable to move forward (again, relative to a point off of the belt), then you are right - try as you might if you don't move you won't fly.

If it is able to move relative to a point off the belt, then it would be moving thru the air, and able to attain lift. It would be moving down the conveyor belt runway away from the plane's starting point and toward the belt's "head pulley"; therefor the fluid air will be moving over the wings, and able to attain lift. This is the assumption I made, and as it was not stated otherwise, the assumption I will follow.
Here is the hypothetical that was proposed:

A plane is standing on a runway that can move (like a giant conveyor belt). This conveyor has a control system that tracks the plane's speed and tunes the speed of the conveyor to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction).

The conveyor matches any forward motion that would normally be created by the plane's wheels. Therefore the plane is stationary as viewed by an observer.

The plane is not moving forward relative to it's position on the ground.

It may be moving on the conveyor belt, but it is stationary relative to the ground and the surrounding atmosphere.

That removes some main vector quantities required for flight.

Thrust alone is not enough to achieve viable flight. If it were, aircraft carriers would never need their catapults. Without the additional forward motion provided by the catapults, every plane would crash leaving a carrier, regardless of the amount of thrust it's engines put out.