[Later in the book, describing his own flight in a stock F-15B with Lt. Col.
Dick Stamm, CO of the 22nd TFS, 36th TFW, from Alconbury, for an ACM hop
with the 527th; 36th TFW CO Col. Perry Smith was the wingman]:

"When Dick released the brakes and lit the afterburners, I was slammed back
in my seat with a force very similar to launches I had made from an aircraft
carrier catapult. Before I could catch my breath, the F-15 had traveled
900ft and rotated. The nose came up . . . and up . . . and up! From
rotation Dick pulled the nose up into a 90*degree climb a scant few hundred
feet off the runway. And the aircraft was accelerating while going straight
up*."

"I watched the earth recede rapidly -- this must be what a moon shot was
like -- and glanced up at a cloud deck at 15,000ft. We slammed through it
in a flash; no gradual ascent through. By the time I looked back it was far
below."

"Due to airspace and speed restrictions, Dick had to pull the burners back,
but there was no question a clean, lightly fueled Eagle will go supersonic
straight up from a standing start."

I watched F-15s do this at St Louis airport back in the 80's.
What did they call it? A "Trojan takeoff"?

The Macair guy claimed they used this profile because it kept the aircraft
noise over the airport and didn't disturb the neighbors as much.
He kept a straight face while he said it, too.
I admired him for that.

--
Harry Andreas
Engineering raconteur