Peter R. wrote:

Knowing you will scream "bull****" to this as well, I am trying to find a
source other than my memory of the news account to prove this and am in the
process of searching.


If it ever really happened or not is one thing...

I can't understand why a simple airplane _couldn't_ take off and fly
itself if properly trimmed and the open space were available. Models do
it all the time, using the same rules of physics. Any inherently stable
design will self-correct in flight.

Any of us who have trimmed small aircraft to fly themselves off the
runway should be able to see this as well.

A full-scale aircraft landing itself is a whole 'nuther day... G