And the way you show that has been accomplished is to do a true redesign and a full technical report that substantiated the critical strengths of the aircraft and the reasons for the design approach. As a redesigned aircraft, it should come out considerably less weight, and hopefully, with maybe 4 engines instead of 8. A 3m sailplane wing can be built to withstand 200+ lbs of lift with structure weight of less than a pound. A project like this should have a similar level of structural efficiency.

Bring a full report to the LMA that shows a good deal of structural improvement (lighter) and more simplicity (less engines) and maybe the LMA reconsiders.