ORIGINAL: NebulaDDS

I'm a dental student, not an aeronautical engineer. In fact, I have about one minute flying experience. But I do know a few things about flight.

You can get an anvil to fly, given the right conditions. All you need is enough thrust to generate lift in the right direction. Put wings on that anvil, and it'll fly for sure. Any plane you design will almost certainly fly (within reason). It's simply a matter of how stably it flies (or, if you're seeking maneuverability, how unstably it flies).

As long as you provide enough thrust to create adequate lift, and as long as that lift is applied at the center of gravity of the plane, you're in business. Anything beyond that basic principal of flight is just icing on the cake, and dictates HOW the plane flies.

If I understand flight correctly, you want the plane to fly with the fuselage nearly horizontal (pitched ever so slightly upward). That means, when you balance the plane with your fingertips under the center of the wings, just in-front of the halfway point of the wing chord, the plane should balance pitched slightly upwards. That's the center of gravity. Where your fingertips are represents approximately where the lift is (even though every square inch of the underside of the plane, fuselage, and stabilizer generates SOME lift.

Anyone disagree?