Will it fly?

[WRXtranceformed]

Look..I KNOW the thrusters push against the air. That's not the point. The point is that the plane has to have some sort of forward relative motion. If you put a hotwheels car on the treadmill, and use your finger to push it forward, but all the harder you push, the treadmill speed is also increased. The car NEVER moves forward on the treadmill. If it started out 2 feet from the front of the treadmill, no matter what, it will still be 2 feet from the front of the treadmill. The wheels aren't propelling the car - your finger is, and you're not a part of the treadmill system. With no forward motion, the plane can't fly.

That's kind of the way that I've been looking at it too. Sure the wheels aren't propelling it, the jet engine is, but the wheels are what allow the jet engine to cause the plane to get up to speed. Wind needs to be forced against the wings to create lift, and that's not going to happen unless the plane actually moves from point A to point B within a certain amount of time.