[MaggieL]

As long as the "it won't fly" people are continuing to be maroons, let me point out that an airplane sitting on the runway with the engine *off* (or with no engine at all) will take off all by itself if the wind speed exceeds the stall speed. This is why we tie aircraft down: wheel chocks aren't sufficient in the case of a lightly wing-loaded aircraft in the presence of a stiff breeze.

With sufficient wind speed, an airplane can take off (or be landed) with *zero* forward motion relative to the ground. There's a standard airshow demo that's done in STOL-type airplanes (Piper Cub, or maybe a Maule or Zenith CH-701) that involves hovering and even flying backwards when the wind speed is high enough.