Take-off practices and procedures...

Hey guys,

I'm sure this has been discussed in this forum before, but a rather
detailed google search back didn't come up with anything concrete, and
I have been wondering about it.

All of the recent discussion of take-offs has had me wondering - how do
you do it?

There are 3 "official" procedures outlined in the FAA Private pilot's
manual-

Standard Takeoff-
Flaps per POH (usually retracted), accelerate smoothly to Vr, put the
aircraft into Vy attitude, let the plane climb away on its own.

Short Field Takeoff-
Flaps per POH (usually 1 notch or so), accelerate quickly to Vr, put
the aircraft into Vx attitude, let the aircraft climb away on its own,
drop the nose and take Vy attitude as soon as passed obstacle altitude.

Soft Field Takeoff-
Flaps per POH (usually 1 notch or so), accelerate to Vr, pull back
firmly to get the aircraft into ground effect, then lower the nose
again once in ground effect and let the aircraft accellerate to Vx or
Vy, depending upon whether or not there are obstacles to clear.

Simple enough.

However, my instructor, and several of you guys use a technique not
listed above-

"popular" takeoff-
Flaps per POH (usually retracted), accelerate to Vr, pull mains off,
lower nose in ground effect, and accelerate to Vx or Vy as necessary in
ground effect (even on a hard surface runway) before climbing away.

Its basically a flaps-less soft-field takeoff even on firm runways.

My instructor gives several reasons for this takeoff-

1- Air is better than the best oleo strut, smoother takeoff for
passengers.
2- The plane accelerates faster in ground effect (without the wheel
drag)
3- It allows you to crab into a crosswind sooner, getting you out of a
draggy slip condition.
4- Less wear on both the struts and the tires.
5- Its absolutely essential at high DA altitude airports
6- It gets you in 'practice' for short-field takeoffs (the only
difference between your normal takeoff and the short field takeoff is
flap setting)... I.E, they're nothing special and nothing to worry
about.

The FAA manual lists the primary danger of "premature liftoff" as
power-on stall and the risk of the aircraft settling back onto the
runway... This makes sense, but honestly even in my underpowered little
cherokee, once I get the mains off and I'm set up in ground effect,
sink doesn't seem to be an issue- she seems perfectly happy to "hover"
down the runway building speed. I would imagine there might be a risk
if a ham-fisted pilot doesn't ease the elevator-pressure back enough
and climbs out of ground effect too early- but that takes no more
finesse then a coordinated turn - its just a simple pilot skill that
quickly becomes second nature.

So if the 'hybrid' takeoff above really does have all of these
advantages, why isn't it 'recommended' per the FAA handbook?

How do you guys do it?

Just looking for some guidance from the more experienced pilots on
here

-Scott