"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Richard Riley" wrote in message
...
[...]
And, just to keep it on topic, the only planes that could take off
from a treadmill are the Osprey and the Harrier.

If you're going to try to stay on topic, you ought to at least try to get
the answer right. At this point plenty of sources, from individuals here
in
this thread and the one we had a while back, as well as those cited in the
comments to the blog article referenced, have clearly stated the correct
answer.

Anyone attempting to refute the correct answer, however futile that effort
may be, at least owes it to themselves as well as the rest of us to take
the
time to read and understand the references that explain the correct
answer.

Pete


It appears that the OP had it nailed from the start.

This "puzzler" is a deliberately trivial, and well tested problem, which
allows the problem to be restated slightly to allow the correct answer to be
refuted--at least enough to convince anyone who believes that the airplane's
wheels perform some function other than steering and removing friction [of
the aircraft sliding along the runway] so that the airplane can accellerate
and take off.

It is really depressing that so many in a group of this type [seem to] have
been taken in.

Peter :-(