Quote:
Oh, and also, by the way:

http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/191034-1.html

Quote:
The question that has been going around is not particularly artfully worded, and I think that has caused some of the disagreements, but I'll repeat it as it is shown: "On a day with absolutely calm wind, a plane is standing on a runway that can move (some sort of band conveyor). The plane moves in one direction, while the conveyor moves in the opposite direction. The conveyor has a control system that tracks the plane speed and tunes the speed of the conveyor to be exactly the same (but in the opposite direction). Can the airplane ever take off?"

Quote:
Imagine a plane is sat on the beginning of a massive conveyor belt/travelator type arrangement, as wide and as long as a runway, and intends to take off. The conveyer belt is designed to exactly match the speed of the wheels at any given time, moving in the opposite direction of rotation.
There is no wind.
Can the plane take off?

The former suggests the belt moves opposite to the airplane's motion, the latter suggests the belt moves opposite to wheel rotation.
The bottom of the wheel (where it contacts the ground) is moving opposite to the plane's direction already.
Either way, though, and blah blah blah...