I wanted to strike up this subject weeks ago, but I watched the thread on H-T turn into a flame war and didn't want to visit the same on our well-mannered basement :chuckles:

At first I didn't think the plane would be able to take off. Then I came to the realization that the plane's wheels are basically a bearing and they really don't factor into the equation all that much. The thrust of the engines will still act on the airframe and provide forward motion, eventually leading to liftoff.

The outcome probably won't settle this arguement anyhow. There's no way they're going to do a full-scale test, and people will always find a way to prove how they did it was wrong.