AHA-D said:This entire discussion is pointing to "fixed-mind-logic". Most people are thinking "car" and not "plane". A car needs ground and friction to move, a plane doesn't. (well, correction, it needs ground to be supported when the wings aren't doing so) When seeing a plane taxi towards the runway you might be tempted to think it's the same as a car driving, but it is not. There is no engine driving the wheels, the plane is moving forward on a relatively low amount of thrust from the jet engines.
After this and other quotes, I have seen the error of my ways (its good to have a closed mind that gets opened).
I talked to a guy here who flies planes and you guys are right. The only relevent factor is the airspeed, NOT (as I was thinking) the ground speed.
Thanks
Kev