Re: The greatest question in the history of human kind.
OK, I'm a helicopter pilot but the principles of flight, believe it or not are still the same. The helicopter's wing is thrust into the air in a circular motion instead of the air being pushed straight in.
Here are the facts. Forget the wheels. A lifting wing needs airflow over it to provide lift. Without airflow there is no lift. Period. W/ enough HP a prop can create enough wing for lift without much foreward motion.
25 percent of lift is generated by air forced into the underside of an airfoil (wing) 75 percent of your lift is generated by the vaccuum(negative pressure) left on the top of the lifting wing. Look up the "venturi tube" and "bernoli's principal". Also look up how an airfoil works.....believe it or not a boat hull in the same idea....the lift in a boat is mostly generated not by the water forcing up but the negative pressure area created by the displacement of water.
Something has to generate this airflow. It can be foreward motion or wind generated by a propeller. Some powerful airplanes can generate enough airflow with minimal foreward motion just with the prop to lift off with a tiny bit of roll distance. These planes are used in Alaska a lot where they have tiny roll out areas like sandbars to land on. I think one kind is called a Cub.
Gyrocopters can do this too called a jump takeoff. A gyro has no power driving the main rotor only wind created by a airplane type prop that pushes.
I fly a helicopter and our takeoff is almost always 0 feet and 0 inches.
Common planes for short roll takeoffs are super cubs, zeniths and huskies.
Some video links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tJuO16hRTk&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ApIG7jIpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c99ZHZw97rU&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RPYWmdv174
Hope this helps. The prop makes the wind.....BTW I have not seen this video so if anyone finds it please link to it. Thanks,
-Rotor