From the Cessna 120/140 association forum:
I've had conversations with the dead stick T/O guy. He flies a Highlander, and did several take offs with power and then at idle. He's no fool, and of course it has a starter as well. It's one of those things that look harder than it is, and he approached it safely.
Actually less danger than a short field with trees at the departure end, you see he had an answer to "what if the engine quits"
-- IFMU