Can the Plane Take-Off?

[EricH]

Originally Posted by Protronie

Yes but... the thrust from the prop pulls the plane forward so air rushes over the wings to produce lift.
Would the prop-wash alone be enough to produce the required air moving over the wings flight surface in order to produce the lift needed?

If the plane is on a belt moving under it at the same speed as the plane then the air above and under the wing would depend on the prop wash.

You aren't getting it. The wheels are NOT repeat NOT connected to the engine and prop. Not in any way, shape, or form (save the mounts to the fuselage).

Think of it this way. You put your car into neutral on a flat surface. It won't move, right? Now, do that on a hill (conveyor belt). It moves, right? The wheels are free-spinning when the car is in neutral and the brakes are off. Same for an airplane, except that there isn't a drive gear.

Prop wash (air pushed by prop) has nothing to do with it. It's whether the plane can move forward on the ground. That is determined by the thrust. The thrust is how strongly the prop pushes on the air. Now, the thrust only has to overcome air resistance (definitely a bit of this) and friction from the wheels (assumed to be negligible) to get the air flowing over the whole wing. If the plane can move forward (thrust > air resistance, or drag), then the lift can come into play against gravity. Because the wheels are free spinning, they can't resist forward motion, even with a conveyor belt. So the plane moves forward, lift comes into play, and the plane takes off. I don't care what speed the conveyor belt is moving. Unless it's moving fast enough to cause a wheel to seize up, the plane will take off.