I suppose it depends upon which way the plane is facing on the tread mill at the start.



The example sounds like the tread mill was expected to accelerate the plane to its equivalent take off speed...and the pole was expected to keep it from rolling forwards...with the assumption that the plane was facing at least in the correct direction for take off.

So - you'd have the tread mill rolling at say 180 mph...coming from behind the plane and past it...

...and the pole roped to the tail, to keep it from actually moving.