our tests of combustion engine driven crankshafts connected to a spinning mechanism can perform well in both transatlantic flights and cross country road trips.
Think of it this way: the more thrust you get, the farther you'll go before control problems start to manifest. Keep pushing, and eventually the rest of the craft becomes a rounding error in the math :).
I will limit myself to saying that more thrust without control just means you're going faster when you crash.
Correct.
Note that the problem specification talks about flying, and says nothing about the landing or surviving it.