A bit surprised that static thrust would be considered useless. I've built a lot of scratch scale aircraft and I always look at the static thrust of engines to see how well the plane will get pulled down the runway. I don't like to overpower models, as that always makes them heavier and they don't fly as realistically. I agree with your other points, but if you build odd aircraft and fly off of grass, the more data you have on your aircraft and engines, the better.