Aircraft can have different ways to take off and land. Conventional airplanes accelerate along the ground until sufficient lift is generated for takeoff, and reverse the process to land.
Some airplanes can take off at low speed, this being a short takeoff. Some aircraft such as helicopters and Harrier jump jets can take off and land vertically. Rockets also usually take off vertically, but some designs can land horizontally.
Utterly amazing technological development over the last 100 years. I’m always awestruck to see something this big, heavy and beautiful doing what it does.
In the older days of what was then called Idlewild airport, now JFK, there was an observation deck on top of the terminals and it was outdoors.
You could go there, watch the planes take off and land, hear the sounds and smell the fuel etc. As a child, I loved it! This is when most planes were still turboprops.
At 6 yrs. old went to Scotland on a Cunard turboprop, the pilot allowed me to sit on his lap and play like I was flying the plane. 14 hours to Scotland, landed at Prestwick, very different now from those days. Had a road going across the runway and traffic had to be stopped for the planes to land!