Quote:
Originally posted by Tobra
I remember when I was in the Navy, the ship was out near the air field, and the road went past the end of the runway. Had to stop when a plane was taking off if you were on the road. Saw an F-14 take off once. He got his wheels off the ground, went straight up and was out of sight in the blink of an eye, impressive, most impressive
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Old friend of mine was one of the acceptance pilots for the Air Force on the McDonnell Douglas F-15. He got tired of sitting on the factory ramp in St. Louis and waiting for all the airliners to get out of the way and called the tower one day with a request.
Asked them what was the highest altitude they could give him if he stayed in the ATA (airport traffic area) and they replied that they controlled the airspace up to 10,000 feet. He asked if they could call radar and get unlimited climb if he stayed in the ATA (which is 3 miles around the airport) and they got back to him in a minute with an affirm reply.
Gary lined the airplane up on the runway and held the brakes. Slowly advanced the throttles past Mil power into afterburner and released the brakes. As the speed built up he pulled the stick back and went into a vertical climb, directly overhead the St. Louis airport and the runway he had just taken off on. By the time he was past 10,000 feet he was right at the end of the runway and talking to radar for higher climb.
The departure he founded is still active with the airport and McDonnell Douglas (aka Boeing) factory there. Its called the "Eagle 1" departure.
We flew together for many years and after this he was assigned to be one of the first pilots for the F-117 based out of Area 54 while it was still a black program. Been trying to get him to drive a 911 for years but he is a BMW fan.
