[EricH]

Originally Posted by nuggetsyl

I will have to disagree. Engines at full power means nothing. If you retract the landing gear you will crash the plane because your air speed is 0. Many people are confusing ground speed with air speed. If air is not going over the wings you can not lift a plane off the ground plain and simple.

The air speed is ONLY zero if:

1. the wind is directly from one side, or
2. the wind is from dead aft at the same speed as the plane (and a wind that fast would ground half the planes in the area anyway).

The airplane moves forward on the ground. Ground speed is approximately airspeed, in a calm. If the aircraft is moving on the ground, it will have airspeed, unless one or both of the conditions above is met. The airplane will also be able to move fast enough to beat the wind.

Oh, and I have heard of a fighter pilot on a conventional runway who pulled his gear up to take off. No rising of the plane. If you can do the same on a moving runway, you can take off.

This besides the point that Dave was making: Same conditions apply, but the pilot simply pulls up the landing gear and is no longer in contact with the belt. IF you are assuming that the plane will stand still, THEN the plane will not take off.

However, the Mythbusters have shown that the plane CAN take off, especially because it moves, so this discussion is moot, unless you have a problem with their methods.