On the ATC side, after you request that climb with the tower, the tower then coordinates with the TRACON, then TRACON with the center. Essentially, we all have to block from surface to whatever you requested, which can be a decent chunk of airspace to prevent any traffic conflicts. It’s fun to watch on a scope too. FedEx will climb out at like 3,000 FPM. Southwest 2.5-3. CRJ2s at 500 FPM. Fighters can climb so fast the datablock sometimes shows XXX indicating that it’s climbing so fast the computer can’t accurately compute the mode C.
Long time listener, I like these kinds of How to, Why to videos, Sir! Unrestricted climbs are indeed morale boosting. As a 20 year Flightline guy, we would see them from time to time, but as my time was predominantly spent on Thunderchiefs and Aardvarks, they weren't that often. Never got a real kick out of Vipers or Eagles though, after the first few back in the 70's and 80's. The most impressive for me was the F-111F on an FCF (Functional Certification Flight) unrestricted climb and mission profile flight. The Aircraft would be loaded with no stores, and wings empty of fuel, for a take off weight of ~55,000 pounds. With 26,500 pounds of thrust each motor, we were near 1 to 1 thrust, and they'd take-off, semi Russian style, lift enough to pick the gear up, then ground effect to the end of the runway, where they would do the 60% climb. As they went up, they'd start pulling the wings back from 16 to 27 degrees or more, and then as a speck, do your positive roll over. They would them come back after a 1.5 hour flight sometimes with peeling paint on the leading edges after hitting Mach 2.5 plus out over the North Sea corridor. The Vark was big and LOOKED heavy, but the F model was a mean and powerful Lady.
The F-111 was quite the bird. I worked all models at the depot at McClellan and worked everything from the modification/overhaul center to flight test. We were civilians but we also had a military test and evaluation squadron there and they really put those birds through some stuff. Been retired a long time now but have some great memories. One of my favorite aircraft and I've worked on quite a few in my 36 years with the USAF and DOD.
@@StevenDaugherty-uo5csMcClellan is not what it used to be. I pick loads up from there sometimes but I miss when it was still active and seeing the planes flying overhead.
@@mrjohnklake Yes I hated to see Mather AFB close, that was where I spent most of my military time, with the SAC unit there, the 320th be mb wing. Then worked at McClellan until they shut it down too. Finished my career at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Its sad to see both Mather and McClellan now when I come back to Sacramento. Enjoying life in Thailand now, about three hours from good old U-Tapao.
@@StevenDaugherty-uo5cs I would love to move to the Philippines. I have had plans to visit Thailand but we will have to wait and see how that goes! The only thing I do not like about SE Asia is the humidity! Holy crap!!! Have you sprouted gills from the humidity yet?!?
@@mrjohnklake Hahaha I do check my neck every now and then. Yes the humidity sucks. You do eventually get used to it. And some months aren't so bad. I come back to the USA once a year but usually only stay 2 or 3 months. Life in Thailand is so much more peaceful and relaxed and definitely more affordable.
*I saw this documentary where an F-14 Tomcat did a -4G pushover inverted against a Mig. They took a beautiful picture. They were keeping up international relations.*
Mover, here’s a quick no-shitter from 1993: I’m a LTjg on a good deal cross-country in an F-14A out of NTU. Pcola, then NAS Dallas for a Daily/Turn, then on to Chicago, NAS Glenview, then RTB. At Dallas base ops, they ask if I’d like the “Tomcat-ONE” departure. Upon learning it’s an unrestricted climb to FL200 within 3nm of the field, I️ said “Why sure!”. I️ gathered a bag of knots in a low Trani, swept the wings back and started the 4g pull at 400knots. Sadly by 18000, I️ was out of knots and had to level off at FL190, and milk it up to 200 slowly. After a great RON in Chi-Town, we roll through base ops and innocently ask if we can get an unrestricted climb out of there, expecting a quick “Nope”. Surprisingly, They replied you can request it on Tower freq. Sooo, we taxi out with an initial clearance to 4K & ask Tower for an unrestricted climb. But Tower only gives us 7000 feet. Soooo, we ask for higher and get a “Standby”. After a minute or so delay, the controller clears us unrestricted to level 220. I think to myself “self, first, COOL, 2nd I’m gonna need a lot more knots on deck to get to FL 220 and 3rd I’m amazed that Chicago Center Is on board with this… but it’s a Sunday morning so I guess they don’t have much traffic?!” After takeoff, I’m 250 knots at 50ft at the upwind numbers accelerating in full grunt, wings coming aft to 68deg. About 2 miles later I’m north of the field, zipping over the top of row houses. I’m still in full blower, 420knots and maybe 150ft. Then I️ am shocked to see (and overfly) a church & parking lot full of cars (it’s Sunday morning at 1015L (typical last day of a Xcnty hangover launchtime 🥴). Sh!t! , so start my pull to the vertical. Laying on my back I️ start processing that church service was in session that must have been HORRIBLY loud and I️m regretting this mistake, all while my RIO Checks in with Departure: “Victory 1, passing 7.3 for FL220”. Controller’s response was “Victory 1, say again altitude?!?”. I look inside watching the altimeter spinning and chuckle as my RIO tries to time his reply, “Victory 1 passing…. Passing …..One-FourThousand! ” he says with obvious glee in his voice for nailing his Altitude call! The Controller (in panic voice) “VICTORY 1! Level off FL200, HEADING 220! Traffic several quadrants and over top at FL220!!” Oh shit! I️ successfully guess correctly which way to roll in the vertical and pull out inverted. I️ roll upright at exactly 200 heading 220 @ 230knots. Silence on the ICS. Silence on the UHF. 30seconds later, we are switched to Center and the flight proceeds on to Oceana as if nothing happened. No phone number to call, no noise complaints. It’s all good, apparently. Well, still scared, after landing I️ called Glenview Base Ops and asked what happened (and also hoping to intercept and resolve any noise complaints at my O-2 level. But luckily they took the blame: seems that the tower and departure controllers knew we asking for a Max Performance Unrestricted climb, but when they coordinated with Center, Center assumed it was a heavy-laden C-9 asking for an unrestricted leisurely climb due to fuel constraints. So my lessons learnt that day: ask for a MAX PERFORMANCE CLIMB not just an unrestricted climb, and two, have SA -it’s not nice to buzz a church service on Sunday morning!
Imagine the pews vibrating, 20 years of dust being dislodged from the ceiling, concentric ripples in the holy water, chandeliers dancing, all of the men grinning, and the organist seamlessly breaking into Danger Zone. I wish I was there!
As a former Viper & Eagle Crew Chief, i remember my first unrestricted climb during a incentive ride at Luke back in 1988. 311th TFTS. My 2nd was in incirlik Turkey, while TDY from Torrejon AB 613th Amu. My final "incentive" ride was at Spangdahlem AB 23d FS in 1995. After that 2 other back seat rides were maintenance support rides during cross country flights to Aviano Italy & RAF Mildenhal. Regret not having a Eagle ride though.. But I had a great 25yr AF Career
Back in the 80s I worked with a guy who had been a military cargo pilot. (C-119 maybe?) When he was in Florida he occasionally had a very heavy load to fly from a smaller airport into Miami Intl. Over a certain load they would give him a JATO bottle. Being a "sneaky fun seeker" he came up with the idea of firewalling the engines and seeing if he could get off without lighting the JATO. On the "happy" flights where he had avoided lighting the bottle he would request an unrestricted climb when leaving Miami. Then he would light the bottle with an empty plane. He said it was the most fun you can have in a cargo plane. After a few times they got wise and started refusing the requests for unrestricted climbs...
When I was working at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis in the 80's, I would sometimes see F-15s do an unrestricted climb for test flights. I always suspected it was to avoid the heavy commercial traffic around the airport (Lambert Field), but it's good to have this hypothesis confirmed. I'd served 4 years in the Corps around Phantoms and Skyhawks, so knew what a typical military take-off looked like. It was great to have a civilian job where you still got to see F-15s flying around now and then. 😀
I used to watch those F-15s from McDonnell Douglas at Lambert go vertical with my Dad when I was a little kid in the early 1980s. Seeing pairs or 4 ships going vertical was insane.
I was in F-15 Flight Test at McAir (Lambert Field) in the early 80’s and yes, our test pilots used what was called a Viking Departure to clear local airspace quickly… very quickly! An awesome jet!
During the early days of OIF we did a lot of zoom climbs in the 130 departing hot zones like Bagdad. We didn't have the thrust to climb out of the manpad envelope, but it kept us away from small arms. As the war dragged on, the powers that be got more restrictive and we had to perform standard climb outs.
Always my favourite thing to see. Hold the nose down all the way down the runway, then pull. My F-111 flight commander during RTU said he was able to do a vertical climb in an F-111 F model (lafter he'd got down to a low fuel state) during an air show. Said he really shocked the F-15 pilot who was doing his display at the same time.
Fighter Jet Friday at Luke AFB can be quite fun to watch. I work next door to the base, outdoors. Gonna miss the Vipers; 2 squadrons left, one (309th) is transitioning to F-35s after the current class graduates. QQMF!
I lived off of the flight line at Al Assad for 5 months. Although the rumble of F-18s taking off every few minutes shakes your universe, the unrestricted climbs never got old.
I got an incentive ride when we were down at Tyndall AFB for a live fire exercise. in 1992, F16D out of Shaw AFB. unrestricted climb, If I remember correctly 17,500' when he rolled out on top. did 7.5G a bit later, the gray out was coming when he unloaded it. hit the 100% o2 switch for a couple hits. E ticket ride for sure.
I've been lucky to watch C-17 "clear the air" bumping from 4000ft to "beyond your wildest dreams" as that girl had "left the room".. was a sight to behold...
I was running security at an air show in Bahrain around 2011. The Air Force and the Marines sent several aircraft including an F-15 and a Marine F-18. First departure was the F-15. When he took off, he did an unrestricted climb from 100’ AGL at about a 40 degree angle. It was cool. Then came the Marine F-18. He went wheels up, zipped along at 20’ and flew at full afterburner until he was abeam all of us watching. He then instantly pulled it nearly vertical. His nozzles were so close to the ground that the fire from afterburner hit the pavement and kicked up a bunch of dust. He climbed almost straight up into the clouds with all of us cheering and going crazy. Needless to say, we were proud to be Marines that day.
I always loved watching the raptors at JBER do unrestricted climbs. there was a hangar-turned-gym there and some days i'd walk out and watch them go at it.
1979, sitting on a pickup truck outside Bergstrom AFB, multiband radio tuned to 126.2, heard tower clear Demon 11 (RF-4C) quick climb to 10,000 ft.... never forgot that.
That is absolutely sick. You’re airborne 1/3 down the runway, 20 seconds later over the threshold, 20 seconds later the whole runway looks smaller than your head. I think those old fighter pilots were right. Didn’t look like a steep angle but you got gone quick.
Back when I had my incentive ride in 1982 in a F-4E it was referred to as a "Max Climb". It was awesome! The only part of the ride that was better was the low-level Mach run.
In the UK the typhoons unrestricted climb is as soon as it rotates, nose goes up and it climbs up straight away. It would be interesting to compare the time to height. One staying low and gaining speed before pulling up. Vs the typhoon going up straight away.
I reported to my first boat at Pearl Harbor in 1985. We were pierside during my first Pearl Harbor Day commemoration on December 7th of that year. A moving ceremony of the national anthem, followed by "Taps" culminated in the Hawaii Air National Guard, flying F-4E Phantoms, blasted over Pearl Harbor in full military power (Evidenced by the smoke trails behind them). At the end of taps, the "three" position went to full afterburner and climbed out of the formation, went inverted and executed a slow-roll to port and pulled away from the formation. We were all impressed. Next year...... We were blessed to be pierside again and the Hawaii ANG had been upgraded to the F-15A Eagle. Same scenario: National anthem, followed by Taps....... Then came the flyover. Only this time, as the four-ship formation crossed the harbor, the number 3 lit its afterburners, went pure vertical............... and disappeared in the distance..... Straight up!
In the backseat of 34th FS Rude Ram F-16 at PSAB in Saudi Arabia during Southern Watch. The "official" reason was because there was a possible insurgent/terrorist threat from MANPADs. A fired/defective missile was found in the desert near the base. The feeling a view looking back as the ground disappeared from the seat reclined 30 degrees was unreal. Then the roll from inverted to upright. Thanks for that ride Navy exchange Pilot "X-Man" Cross.
Back in the early 80s when I was stationed at Osan, if I wasn't sitting a mission I'd head outside to the fence (top of Hill 170) and watch the U-2 take off. Was always amazed by that aircraft. If I was sitting a mission, I had a "different relationship" with the U-2 (the R model back then) and I was sitting at my rack waiting for it to get to orbit altitude of something over 60,000 feet. Always loved to watch them take off and land, we had some amazing pilots and I never saw any of them dip a wing on landing.
9:35 I love jet noise! It's what I listen to for white noise when I'm studying or trying to filter out social anxiety triggers. GE engines make me happy.
I was a reservist at Homestead working in the bomb dump and we had a great view of the runway. Hate to say it but the best unrestricted takeoff I ever saw there was by a F-18.
I was at an airshow where a Marine Corp two seater snsnapped two the vertical just 50-100ft. above the runway and go full afterburner, climbing to 30,000ft. rapidly ! What an absolute thrill . Just under 60,000 lbs.of thrust I believe. Awesome power! Thought I would edit and add that the pilot ,after takeoff, came around and 50ft. OVER THE tarmac/runway snapped vertical and full burner ! Thrilled like a child!
What I noticed on pretty much all fighter pilots, it's the stare in your eyes, and the automated constant looking around. That's amazing. And almost every pilot has that look. Thanks for your service Mover.
That’s what impressed me most when I got my flight, the power. We had a centerline tank. Almost 5 g. Felt like the ass end fell out. Guess it does really. Most fun ever. Plus I got to do several 9g turns myself. Didn’t have the slightest of greying. Got 8.7 on my first try at it.
FCF profile was 90, Immelmann rollout to level and start the checklist -JFS check , mach run etc. 90* gets fastest butt to ground separation in case of F/O.
If you want to see a proper performance take off look no further then a eurofighter typhoon. There's no leveling out to gain speed for momentum. Straight up, it's lush. More power to weight ratio so just goes up like a rocket.
I trained for my private at a Class C arpt. Field handled lots of mil traffic, from cc to local army to NASA. On one of my first early am lessons, I saw an f-15 go vert (my first from that close). When I asked about it, I was told it was requested by ATC for noise abatement.
when my girlfriend (now engaged) said what makes me happy to watch 'in real life time' this is it. unrestricted climbs because my dad was apart of NAV Canada for 29 years Still brings a smile to my face at 34
The F-15Es at Edward's would do one every time they went up. They would be 30 feet off the deck all the way down the 15k foot runway, then straight up!
When my ANG unit was the first to receive hand-me-down F-16As in 1982, our maintenance techs took the mostly hangar queen aircraft apart and replaced all wiring, engines, avionics, etc. After engine runs in the hush house, a pilot took aircraft for a functional check flight. Being the ANG, we were not restricted in the way we flew. Our unrestricted climbs consisted of brake release after lighting the cans, rotation and leveling off at ~ 50 feet to the end of the 8,000' runway and straight up. Not 85 degrees, 90 degrees until the engine ran out of air. I watched it happen 24 times. Over the next seven years, we became proficient in the air and on the ground, resulting in a win at Gunsmoke '89. It pissed off the USAF units who gave us their worst airplanes in '82. Two years later, we received an invitation to Al Kharj to plink Saddam's T-72 tanks followed by deployments to Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Southern Watch twice, Northern Watch. We were the first ANG unit to receive F-16C/D from the factory. First ANG unit to fulfill the SEAD (Wild Weasel) role. Semper primus.
I’d like to see a video explaining cross country flights. What are the requirements, how are they planned, do you as the pilot have any say on where you go? How many days are you/can you be gone?
The coolest climbe I have ever seen are the F-15's when the Air Force was in Yuma and took off at night, just watching the afterburner glow till it was so small it was hard to see, then the pilot coule go out of afterburner.
When I was an Air Traffic Controller at NAF El Centro, we could not give an unrestricted climb past the airspace of the Class D. We would tell the pilot that past the Class D, they were VFR. Had many F18 and others do it.
Mover going upstairs for fun and games, totally love unrestricted TOs! Thanks for the vid, I bet the comparison from the Viper vs hornet in a unrestricted is no comparison for you I'm sure, especially the big mouth/GE 30s the Makos flew.
When I was at different bases in Southeast Asia our F4's used to scatter in different directions in quick climbs. Three at a time would take off. We were told there were snipers just past the end of the runway who would shoot at the aircraft.
This is going to show my age, cause even the late Cold War was a while ago... My boy scout troop was getting a tour of Otis AFB on Cape Cod, we'd gotten to watch some F15C's take off for a training mission, went into the base museum, came out just in time to watch two combat loaded F15C's take off. Unrestricted climb into a moderate cloud later. Tour guide (pilot) says "They're going bear hunting." For those who don't know, the Soviets would fly Tu-95 "Bear" bombers off the coast of US and our jets would go intercept and escort.
At Hill AFB they told my Father & I that it was a required procedure after engine change. But Hill was also where they stole 3 F-16 engines, just drove em right out the gate, so who TF knows. This was also late 80's/early 90's, so it was definitely a different time reg wise.
I live about two miles off the end of Buckley Space Force Base and the CO-ANG(block-50 F-16's) love to do quick climbs going from ground 5700' elevation to beyond visual really fast, and we can tell what they are doing just from the sound of the burner.. of course Buckley is sandwiched between Centennial which is a very busy GA airport and just 8ish miles from DIA (Americas busiest airport) So I believe its partly to get above the 10k airspace control, and because these throttle jockeys love the kick in the pants.
Born and raised on Oahu grew up watching 15s, some 18s and now the 22s doing them. Hickam is an AFB but it's technically included with Peal Harbor. (Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam) I always assumed because they use the same airspace as HNL they were getting out of the way ASAP of all the GA and tubeliners. Also as for the -G pushover. Maybe you don't have the clearance for that info. My uncle was in one with a MiG-28. Has a Polaroid to prove it. Had since he's not with us anymore.
I was fortunate to do many unrestricted climbs on FCF hops in clean slick wing Block 30 large mouth Vipers. In the winter months out of MSN my takeoff roll was 800’. We have 1000’ overruns on 36/18 and I’d be raising the gear at the threshold. At the end of the 9000’ runway I’d be at 475 KIAS and pull to the vertical leveling off at 15,000 for an ECS check followed by a climb to the block 390-430 for the speed run. What else is better with your pants on?! 😅
As a kid growing up in the UK in the early 70's "the" fast climb intercepter aircraft was the English Electric Lightening but were these old planes as good as we were told? Would love to hear what the reality was? I suspect there was an element of "risk" 😂
Mover, do Vipers pull out of afterburner to mil power momentarily when raising the landing gear while conducting unrestricted climbs? I only ask because F-15Es do, and sometimes will even do so with normal departures from the airfield, depending on configuration. I had observed this for years as an F-15E maintainer and recently received an incentive ride in a "clean" Strike Eagle (not entirely, we still had CFTs, missile racks, missiles, nav/targeting pods). During my incentive, we did an unrestricted climb to 15K and the pilot talked me through the takeoff and pulled out of burner to avoid over speeding the landing gear and once the gear transitioned up he plugged the burners back in. Despite the CFTs, missiles, pods and pulling out of the blowers for a few seconds we still had over 500 knots at the end of the runway! We did a 4G pull to maybe 70 degrees and next thing I know we were pulling over the top just below 15K and still had 400 knots of airspeed. It was one hell of a ride up to the heavens! I briefly worked Vipers for 4 years and wish I could have experienced a ride in one of those. I couldn't remember if they practiced the same technique with the landing gear as the Eagles do (Pratt & Whitney -229 powered).
Hello. I am wondering what engine you were using for the unrestricted climbs. I work with a developer for a flight simulator and we are trying to match the performance you had in the video. Knowing the engine and thrust would be a huge help in matching it as closely as possible. Thank you.
So, there I was, puttering along in a Cessna Caravan on a left downwind for 4R at PHNL (with PAX). A guard F-16 (I think it was) taxiing out asks tower for the 'hang 10 departure' (unrestricted climb). Tower says negative. A minute or so later the fighter takes off and goes up at what looks to me like a 'very steep' climb out. Tower to fighter: "I've got a phone number for you." Never heard what the consequences of that were.....
Honestly, probably nothing. FAA has no jurisdiction to do anything but complain to the military liaison. Any disciplinary action depends on the commander (and how bad the offense is).
Hi there. Great video. I enjoy a lot your content. Thank you for that. I'm no pilot, just a military planes enthusiast. I have a question, about the negative and positive Gs. I thought that pilots would go for positive Gs also for an health question. When you pull to climb and you get positive Gs, your blood is pulled down, and your suit and some techniques help counteract the positive Gs, you may blackout due to lack of blood in the brain. But with negative Gs the blood is pushed up towards the head, you may increase the blood pressures in the head, get a redout and other problems because there's no way to counteract a redout, and it may lead to health issues. Is an the issue? Did I got it wrong? 🙂 Thank you!
Hi, Mover. One question: Is Unres. done in MIL or 'burner? In combat, the advantages are clear. But, if it 'burner, aren't you increasing your risk to MANPADs?
On the ATC side, after you request that climb with the tower, the tower then coordinates with the TRACON, then TRACON with the center. Essentially, we all have to block from surface to whatever you requested, which can be a decent chunk of airspace to prevent any traffic conflicts. It’s fun to watch on a scope too. FedEx will climb out at like 3,000 FPM. Southwest 2.5-3. CRJ2s at 500 FPM. Fighters can climb so fast the datablock sometimes shows XXX indicating that it’s climbing so fast the computer can’t accurately compute the mode C.
Mode C is based off the onboard transponder. What's there to compute for you?
@@karebu2 vertical climb rate
@@bobsmiley06 that's interesting.. didn't know you guys see that.. So you can see like altitude changes like when doing loops, etc... ?
Long time listener, I like these kinds of How to, Why to videos, Sir! Unrestricted climbs are indeed morale boosting. As a 20 year Flightline guy, we would see them from time to time, but as my time was predominantly spent on Thunderchiefs and Aardvarks, they weren't that often. Never got a real kick out of Vipers or Eagles though, after the first few back in the 70's and 80's. The most impressive for me was the F-111F on an FCF (Functional Certification Flight) unrestricted climb and mission profile flight. The Aircraft would be loaded with no stores, and wings empty of fuel, for a take off weight of ~55,000 pounds. With 26,500 pounds of thrust each motor, we were near 1 to 1 thrust, and they'd take-off, semi Russian style, lift enough to pick the gear up, then ground effect to the end of the runway, where they would do the 60% climb. As they went up, they'd start pulling the wings back from 16 to 27 degrees or more, and then as a speck, do your positive roll over. They would them come back after a 1.5 hour flight sometimes with peeling paint on the leading edges after hitting Mach 2.5 plus out over the North Sea corridor. The Vark was big and LOOKED heavy, but the F model was a mean and powerful Lady.
The F-111 was quite the bird. I worked all models at the depot at McClellan and worked everything from the modification/overhaul center to flight test. We were civilians but we also had a military test and evaluation squadron there and they really put those birds through some stuff. Been retired a long time now but have some great memories. One of my favorite aircraft and I've worked on quite a few in my 36 years with the USAF and DOD.
@@StevenDaugherty-uo5csMcClellan is not what it used to be. I pick loads up from there sometimes but I miss when it was still active and seeing the planes flying overhead.
@@mrjohnklake Yes I hated to see Mather AFB close, that was where I spent most of my military time, with the SAC unit there, the 320th be mb wing. Then worked at McClellan until they shut it down too. Finished my career at Hickam AFB in Hawaii. Its sad to see both Mather and McClellan now when I come back to Sacramento. Enjoying life in Thailand now, about three hours from good old U-Tapao.
@@StevenDaugherty-uo5cs I would love to move to the Philippines. I have had plans to visit Thailand but we will have to wait and see how that goes! The only thing I do not like about SE Asia is the humidity! Holy crap!!! Have you sprouted gills from the humidity yet?!?
@@mrjohnklake Hahaha I do check my neck every now and then. Yes the humidity sucks. You do eventually get used to it. And some months aren't so bad. I come back to the USA once a year but usually only stay 2 or 3 months. Life in Thailand is so much more peaceful and relaxed and definitely more affordable.
Mover, like a child who’s been told he can’t have sweets (candy):- “is there any way we can get the quick climb?” 😂
"Make'em tell ya no" 💁♂
Tower, how about a "noice abatement takeoff" then😉?
"GET YA HAND OUT OF THE QUICK CLIMB JAR!!!!"
Gotta let our fighter pilots keep the edge
*I saw this documentary where an F-14 Tomcat did a -4G pushover inverted against a Mig. They took a beautiful picture. They were keeping up international relations.*
Was there a jukebox in that 'documentary'?
@@ChiIeboy why yes, I believe there was.
Mover, here’s a quick no-shitter from 1993:
I’m a LTjg on a good deal cross-country in an F-14A out of NTU.
Pcola, then NAS Dallas for a Daily/Turn, then on to Chicago, NAS Glenview, then RTB.
At Dallas base ops, they ask if I’d like the “Tomcat-ONE” departure. Upon learning it’s an unrestricted climb to FL200 within 3nm of the field, I️ said “Why sure!”. I️ gathered a bag of knots in a low Trani, swept the wings back and started the 4g pull at 400knots. Sadly by 18000, I️ was out of knots and had to level off at FL190, and milk it up to 200 slowly.
After a great RON in Chi-Town, we roll through base ops and innocently ask if we can get an unrestricted climb out of there, expecting a quick “Nope”. Surprisingly, They replied you can request it on Tower freq.
Sooo, we taxi out with an initial clearance to 4K & ask Tower for an unrestricted climb. But Tower only gives us 7000 feet. Soooo, we ask for higher and get a “Standby”. After a minute or so delay, the controller clears us unrestricted to level 220. I think to myself “self, first, COOL, 2nd I’m gonna need a lot more knots on deck to get to FL 220 and 3rd I’m amazed that Chicago Center Is on board with this… but it’s a Sunday morning so I guess they don’t have much traffic?!”
After takeoff, I’m 250 knots at 50ft at the upwind numbers accelerating in full grunt, wings coming aft to 68deg.
About 2 miles later I’m north of the field, zipping over the top of row houses. I’m still in full blower, 420knots and maybe 150ft. Then I️ am shocked to see (and overfly) a church & parking lot full of cars (it’s Sunday morning at 1015L (typical last day of a Xcnty hangover launchtime 🥴). Sh!t! , so start my pull to the vertical. Laying on my back I️ start processing that church service was in session that must have been HORRIBLY loud and I️m regretting this mistake, all while my RIO Checks in with Departure: “Victory 1, passing 7.3 for FL220”.
Controller’s response was “Victory 1, say again altitude?!?”. I look inside watching the altimeter spinning and chuckle as my RIO tries to time his reply, “Victory 1 passing…. Passing …..One-FourThousand! ” he says with obvious glee in his voice for nailing his Altitude call!
The Controller (in panic voice) “VICTORY 1! Level off FL200, HEADING 220! Traffic several quadrants and over top at FL220!!”
Oh shit! I️ successfully guess correctly which way to roll in the vertical and pull out inverted. I️ roll upright at exactly 200 heading 220 @ 230knots.
Silence on the ICS. Silence on the UHF. 30seconds later, we are switched to Center and the flight proceeds on to Oceana as if nothing happened. No phone number to call, no noise complaints. It’s all good, apparently.
Well, still scared, after landing I️ called Glenview Base Ops and asked what happened (and also hoping to intercept and resolve any noise complaints at my O-2 level. But luckily they took the blame: seems that the tower and departure controllers knew we asking for a Max Performance Unrestricted climb, but when they coordinated with Center, Center assumed it was a heavy-laden C-9 asking for an unrestricted leisurely climb due to fuel constraints.
So my lessons learnt that day: ask for a MAX PERFORMANCE CLIMB not just an unrestricted climb, and two, have SA -it’s not nice to buzz a church service on Sunday morning!
AWESOME.
Imagine the pews vibrating, 20 years of dust being dislodged from the ceiling, concentric ripples in the holy water, chandeliers dancing, all of the men grinning, and the organist seamlessly breaking into Danger Zone. I wish I was there!
As a former Viper & Eagle Crew Chief, i remember my first unrestricted climb during a incentive ride at Luke back in 1988. 311th TFTS. My 2nd was in incirlik Turkey, while TDY from Torrejon AB 613th Amu. My final "incentive" ride was at Spangdahlem AB 23d FS in 1995. After that 2 other back seat rides were maintenance support rides during cross country flights to Aviano Italy & RAF Mildenhal.
Regret not having a Eagle ride though.. But I had a great 25yr AF Career
Back in the 80s I worked with a guy who had been a military cargo pilot. (C-119 maybe?) When he was in Florida he occasionally had a very heavy load to fly from a smaller airport into Miami Intl. Over a certain load they would give him a JATO bottle. Being a "sneaky fun seeker" he came up with the idea of firewalling the engines and seeing if he could get off without lighting the JATO.
On the "happy" flights where he had avoided lighting the bottle he would request an unrestricted climb when leaving Miami. Then he would light the bottle with an empty plane. He said it was the most fun you can have in a cargo plane. After a few times they got wise and started refusing the requests for unrestricted climbs...
It's always fun to watch an unrestricted climb.
"First, it looks cool."
Mover laying down a fighter pilot's #1 reason to do anything.
When I was working at McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis in the 80's, I would sometimes see F-15s do an unrestricted climb for test flights. I always suspected it was to avoid the heavy commercial traffic around the airport (Lambert Field), but it's good to have this hypothesis confirmed. I'd served 4 years in the Corps around Phantoms and Skyhawks, so knew what a typical military take-off looked like. It was great to have a civilian job where you still got to see F-15s flying around now and then. 😀
they still do with a few f18s mixed in.
@@Anon_Ymous It amazes and pleases me that versions of Eagles and Hornets are still in production!
I used to watch those F-15s from McDonnell Douglas at Lambert go vertical with my Dad when I was a little kid in the early 1980s. Seeing pairs or 4 ships going vertical was insane.
I was in F-15 Flight Test at McAir (Lambert Field) in the early 80’s and yes, our test pilots used what was called a Viking Departure to clear local airspace quickly… very quickly! An awesome jet!
I was told that the traffic controllers would give you priority clearance to takeoff at Lambert if you agreed to the unrestricted climb
They're a lot of fun to watch. Probably even more fun to be in the backseat for! I'm sorry you couldn't have one for your fini; that was harsh.
24 years since my F16 fini. I did get the unrestricted climb. What a blast it was.
You take me back! Best one I ever did was in a clean Eagle at Tyndall (sea level), in the winter. That was a rocket ride straight up.
During the early days of OIF we did a lot of zoom climbs in the 130 departing hot zones like Bagdad. We didn't have the thrust to climb out of the manpad envelope, but it kept us away from small arms. As the war dragged on, the powers that be got more restrictive and we had to perform standard climb outs.
Always my favourite thing to see. Hold the nose down all the way down the runway, then pull. My F-111 flight commander during RTU said he was able to do a vertical climb in an F-111 F model (lafter he'd got down to a low fuel state) during an air show. Said he really shocked the F-15 pilot who was doing his display at the same time.
Fighter Jet Friday at Luke AFB can be quite fun to watch. I work next door to the base, outdoors. Gonna miss the Vipers; 2 squadrons left, one (309th) is transitioning to F-35s after the current class graduates. QQMF!
I lived off of the flight line at Al Assad for 5 months. Although the rumble of F-18s taking off every few minutes shakes your universe, the unrestricted climbs never got old.
What a great, understandable explanation. Great footage too. Excellent!
From rolling on the runway to 13k feet: "That only took 1 minute..." is what she said. Props Mover!
I got an incentive ride when we were down at Tyndall AFB for a live fire exercise. in 1992, F16D out of Shaw AFB. unrestricted climb, If I remember correctly 17,500' when he rolled out on top.
did 7.5G a bit later, the gray out was coming when he unloaded it. hit the 100% o2 switch for a couple hits. E ticket ride for sure.
I watched a C5-B due a quick climb out of Zaragoza AB Spain once. The plane only got to about 5,000 before he leveled off. It was a great sight.
I've been lucky to watch C-17 "clear the air" bumping from 4000ft to "beyond your wildest dreams" as that girl had "left the room".. was a sight to behold...
I was running security at an air show in Bahrain around 2011. The Air Force and the Marines sent several aircraft including an F-15 and a Marine F-18.
First departure was the F-15. When he took off, he did an unrestricted climb from 100’ AGL at about a 40 degree angle. It was cool.
Then came the Marine F-18. He went wheels up, zipped along at 20’ and flew at full afterburner until he was abeam all of us watching. He then instantly pulled it nearly vertical. His nozzles were so close to the ground that the fire from afterburner hit the pavement and kicked up a bunch of dust.
He climbed almost straight up into the clouds with all of us cheering and going crazy.
Needless to say, we were proud to be Marines that day.
I always loved watching the raptors at JBER do unrestricted climbs. there was a hangar-turned-gym there and some days i'd walk out and watch them go at it.
1979, sitting on a pickup truck outside Bergstrom AFB, multiband radio tuned to 126.2, heard tower clear Demon 11 (RF-4C) quick climb to 10,000 ft.... never forgot that.
I love this episode, it’s my favorite type of takeoff to watch. Thanks Mover!
As a Crew Chief, I got to do this in an Eagle and Viper. What a ride. That Viper made me sick. It just turns so much quicker with fly by wire.
That is absolutely sick. You’re airborne 1/3 down the runway, 20 seconds later over the threshold, 20 seconds later the whole runway looks smaller than your head. I think those old fighter pilots were right. Didn’t look like a steep angle but you got gone quick.
I love unrestricted climbs! ❤
I simulate them when doing soft field takeoffs in the 172. :)
Back when I had my incentive ride in 1982 in a F-4E it was referred to as a "Max Climb". It was awesome! The only part of the ride that was better was the low-level Mach run.
In the UK the typhoons unrestricted climb is as soon as it rotates, nose goes up and it climbs up straight away. It would be interesting to compare the time to height. One staying low and gaining speed before pulling up. Vs the typhoon going up straight away.
I reported to my first boat at Pearl Harbor in 1985. We were pierside during my first Pearl Harbor Day commemoration on December 7th of that year. A moving ceremony of the national anthem, followed by "Taps" culminated in the Hawaii Air National Guard, flying F-4E Phantoms, blasted over Pearl Harbor in full military power (Evidenced by the smoke trails behind them).
At the end of taps, the "three" position went to full afterburner and climbed out of the formation, went inverted and executed a slow-roll to port and pulled away from the formation.
We were all impressed.
Next year......
We were blessed to be pierside again and the Hawaii ANG had been upgraded to the F-15A Eagle.
Same scenario: National anthem, followed by Taps....... Then came the flyover.
Only this time, as the four-ship formation crossed the harbor, the number 3 lit its afterburners, went pure vertical............... and disappeared in the distance..... Straight up!
It’s so cool watching you take off from a base that I’ve lived close to, and now work at (Belle Chasse NAS)
I watched a great RUclips video on the zoom climbs back in the fifties through the seventies. It was a real competition between the USA and USSR.
In the backseat of 34th FS Rude Ram F-16 at PSAB in Saudi Arabia during Southern Watch. The "official" reason was because there was a possible insurgent/terrorist threat from MANPADs. A fired/defective missile was found in the desert near the base. The feeling a view looking back as the ground disappeared from the seat reclined 30 degrees was unreal. Then the roll from inverted to upright. Thanks for that ride Navy exchange Pilot "X-Man" Cross.
The “level off” process was interesting - never knew that. Thanks Mover!
I caught your nugget. "Can't do a -4g pushover because it's not a Mig-28". 1st Top Gun. Luv it..
Great video and explanation of a cool aspect of flight. I appreciate how you represent our Air Force Reserve Command very well. AFRC ♦1
Back in the early 80s when I was stationed at Osan, if I wasn't sitting a mission I'd head outside to the fence (top of Hill 170) and watch the U-2 take off. Was always amazed by that aircraft. If I was sitting a mission, I had a "different relationship" with the U-2 (the R model back then) and I was sitting at my rack waiting for it to get to orbit altitude of something over 60,000 feet. Always loved to watch them take off and land, we had some amazing pilots and I never saw any of them dip a wing on landing.
When I was a little kid I got to sit in the original YF-16 cockpit, never forgot that memory. I wonder where that plane is now? USAF museum maybe?
9:35 I love jet noise! It's what I listen to for white noise when I'm studying or trying to filter out social anxiety triggers. GE engines make me happy.
I was a reservist at Homestead working in the bomb dump and we had a great view of the runway. Hate to say it but the best unrestricted takeoff I ever saw there was by a F-18.
I was at an airshow where a Marine Corp two seater snsnapped two the vertical just 50-100ft. above the runway and go full afterburner, climbing to 30,000ft. rapidly ! What an absolute thrill . Just under 60,000 lbs.of thrust I believe. Awesome power! Thought I would edit and add that the pilot ,after takeoff, came around and 50ft. OVER THE tarmac/runway snapped vertical and full burner ! Thrilled like a child!
2 seater f18?
What I noticed on pretty much all fighter pilots, it's the stare in your eyes, and the automated constant looking around. That's amazing. And almost every pilot has that look. Thanks for your service Mover.
did not realize that MSY was that close to the river. thanks for the view.
That’s what impressed me most when I got my flight, the power. We had a centerline tank. Almost 5 g. Felt like the ass end fell out. Guess it does really.
Most fun ever. Plus I got to do several 9g turns myself. Didn’t have the slightest of greying. Got 8.7 on my first try at it.
FCF profile was 90, Immelmann rollout to level and start the checklist -JFS check , mach run etc. 90* gets fastest butt to ground separation in case of F/O.
Interesting topic, perfect break from work... and now I want to play DCS
I have that same shirt, a guy I work with use to work on the F-16 up to the block 50 when he retired
That was informative, thanks Mover!
He's going vertical, and so am I.
We're going ballistic, go get him Mav.
Got to see an F-15 go 90° at a local airshow years ago. He was out of sight in about 15 - 20 seconds. Mind blown!
I live near Hickam and every day (almost) I see the Raptors go near 90. So cool, sounds awesome
If you want to see a proper performance take off look no further then a eurofighter typhoon. There's no leveling out to gain speed for momentum. Straight up, it's lush. More power to weight ratio so just goes up like a rocket.
I trained for my private at a Class C arpt. Field handled lots of mil traffic, from cc to local army to NASA.
On one of my first early am lessons, I saw an f-15 go vert (my first from that close). When I asked about it, I was told it was requested by ATC for noise abatement.
Loved the F16 FCF......Climb followed later by a boom.
when my girlfriend (now engaged) said what makes me happy to watch 'in real life time' this is it.
unrestricted climbs because my dad was apart of NAV Canada for 29 years
Still brings a smile to my face at 34
The F-15Es at Edward's would do one every time they went up. They would be 30 feet off the deck all the way down the 15k foot runway, then straight up!
When i was in the Army up in Alaska @ Richardson Elmendorf the F15s Did this daily
When my ANG unit was the first to receive hand-me-down F-16As in 1982, our maintenance techs took the mostly hangar queen aircraft apart and replaced all wiring, engines, avionics, etc. After engine runs in the hush house, a pilot took aircraft for a functional check flight. Being the ANG, we were not restricted in the way we flew. Our unrestricted climbs consisted of brake release after lighting the cans, rotation and leveling off at ~ 50 feet to the end of the 8,000' runway and straight up. Not 85 degrees, 90 degrees until the engine ran out of air. I watched it happen 24 times. Over the next seven years, we became proficient in the air and on the ground, resulting in a win at Gunsmoke '89. It pissed off the USAF units who gave us their worst airplanes in '82. Two years later, we received an invitation to Al Kharj to plink Saddam's T-72 tanks followed by deployments to Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Southern Watch twice, Northern Watch. We were the first ANG unit to receive F-16C/D from the factory. First ANG unit to fulfill the SEAD (Wild Weasel) role. Semper primus.
Theres a video on here of a clean Oregon ANG F-15 doing the business. Its absolutely rockin! Pretty sure he hit vertical no problem.
+100 cool points for Mover!
@7:44 The data on the Mig is inaccurate. Love the Top Gun reference.
I’d like to see a video explaining cross country flights. What are the requirements, how are they planned, do you as the pilot have any say on where you go? How many days are you/can you be gone?
We're going ballistic Mav!
Unrestricted off of MSY??? Yeah, ur the man!
Nice video and great explanation!
The coolest climbe I have ever seen are the F-15's when the Air Force was in Yuma and took off at night, just watching the afterburner glow till it was so small it was hard to see, then the pilot coule go out of afterburner.
When I was an Air Traffic Controller at NAF El Centro, we could not give an unrestricted climb past the airspace of the Class D. We would tell the pilot that past the Class D, they were VFR. Had many F18 and others do it.
Mover going upstairs for fun and games, totally love unrestricted TOs! Thanks for the vid, I bet the comparison from the Viper vs hornet in a unrestricted is no comparison for you I'm sure, especially the big mouth/GE 30s the Makos flew.
Nice, good info on the roll and positiv G.
When I was at different bases in Southeast Asia our F4's used to scatter in different directions in quick climbs. Three at a time would take off. We were told there were snipers just past the end of the runway who would shoot at the aircraft.
This is going to show my age, cause even the late Cold War was a while ago... My boy scout troop was getting a tour of Otis AFB on Cape Cod, we'd gotten to watch some F15C's take off for a training mission, went into the base museum, came out just in time to watch two combat loaded F15C's take off. Unrestricted climb into a moderate cloud later. Tour guide (pilot) says "They're going bear hunting." For those who don't know, the Soviets would fly Tu-95 "Bear" bombers off the coast of US and our jets would go intercept and escort.
At Hill AFB they told my Father & I that it was a required procedure after engine change.
But Hill was also where they stole 3 F-16 engines, just drove em right out the gate, so who TF knows.
This was also late 80's/early 90's, so it was definitely a different time reg wise.
Nice rip at the end there Mover ! 🇺🇸💪🏼
"Viking Departures"
I live about two miles off the end of Buckley Space Force Base and the CO-ANG(block-50 F-16's) love to do quick climbs going from ground 5700' elevation to beyond visual really fast, and we can tell what they are doing just from the sound of the burner.. of course Buckley is sandwiched between Centennial which is a very busy GA airport and just 8ish miles from DIA (Americas busiest airport) So I believe its partly to get above the 10k airspace control, and because these throttle jockeys love the kick in the pants.
I did it on my incentive flight in a F15 w/ centerline bag. Had no idea there was so much to it.
The “negative 4g pushover” comment made me laugh aloud. Nicely done.
Born and raised on Oahu grew up watching 15s, some 18s and now the 22s doing them. Hickam is an AFB but it's technically included with Peal Harbor. (Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam)
I always assumed because they use the same airspace as HNL they were getting out of the way ASAP of all the GA and tubeliners.
Also as for the -G pushover. Maybe you don't have the clearance for that info.
My uncle was in one with a MiG-28. Has a Polaroid to prove it.
Had since he's not with us anymore.
Such a climb is sometimes done simply because you can. It’s like the fast jet equivalent of a triple digit merge onto the highway in a fast car.
I overheard a C17 get 270kts up to 10,000 because they were on the heavier side of their weight limitations. Departure approved it.
Of course there’s one in the Blue Angels IMAX trailer. That was an insane angle following #6. Not sure exactly how that was done.
I was fortunate to do many unrestricted climbs on FCF hops in clean slick wing Block 30 large mouth Vipers. In the winter months out of MSN my takeoff roll was 800’. We have 1000’ overruns on 36/18 and I’d be raising the gear at the threshold. At the end of the 9000’ runway I’d be at 475 KIAS and pull to the vertical leveling off at 15,000 for an ECS check followed by a climb to the block 390-430 for the speed run. What else is better with your pants on?! 😅
As a kid growing up in the UK in the early 70's "the" fast climb intercepter aircraft was the English Electric Lightening but were these old planes as good as we were told?
Would love to hear what the reality was? I suspect there was an element of "risk" 😂
That was awesome! 🔥
I’ve been dreaming of doing that since I can remember. Probably after seeing Top Gun when I was 4
Mover, do Vipers pull out of afterburner to mil power momentarily when raising the landing gear while conducting unrestricted climbs? I only ask because F-15Es do, and sometimes will even do so with normal departures from the airfield, depending on configuration. I had observed this for years as an F-15E maintainer and recently received an incentive ride in a "clean" Strike Eagle (not entirely, we still had CFTs, missile racks, missiles, nav/targeting pods). During my incentive, we did an unrestricted climb to 15K and the pilot talked me through the takeoff and pulled out of burner to avoid over speeding the landing gear and once the gear transitioned up he plugged the burners back in. Despite the CFTs, missiles, pods and pulling out of the blowers for a few seconds we still had over 500 knots at the end of the runway! We did a 4G pull to maybe 70 degrees and next thing I know we were pulling over the top just below 15K and still had 400 knots of airspeed. It was one hell of a ride up to the heavens! I briefly worked Vipers for 4 years and wish I could have experienced a ride in one of those. I couldn't remember if they practiced the same technique with the landing gear as the Eagles do (Pratt & Whitney -229 powered).
Hello. I am wondering what engine you were using for the unrestricted climbs. I work with a developer for a flight simulator and we are trying to match the performance you had in the video. Knowing the engine and thrust would be a huge help in matching it as closely as possible. Thank you.
Mover looking very fighter pilot…clean!
Mig-28! That was great!
The Mig 28 reference cracked me up. Very unexpected
So, there I was, puttering along in a Cessna Caravan on a left downwind for 4R at PHNL (with PAX). A guard F-16 (I think it was) taxiing out asks tower for the 'hang 10 departure' (unrestricted climb). Tower says negative. A minute or so later the fighter takes off and goes up at what looks to me like a 'very steep' climb out.
Tower to fighter: "I've got a phone number for you."
Never heard what the consequences of that were.....
Honestly, probably nothing. FAA has no jurisdiction to do anything but complain to the military liaison. Any disciplinary action depends on the commander (and how bad the offense is).
Hi there. Great video. I enjoy a lot your content. Thank you for that.
I'm no pilot, just a military planes enthusiast.
I have a question, about the negative and positive Gs.
I thought that pilots would go for positive Gs also for an health question. When you pull to climb and you get positive Gs, your blood is pulled down, and your suit and some techniques help counteract the positive Gs, you may blackout due to lack of blood in the brain. But with negative Gs the blood is pushed up towards the head, you may increase the blood pressures in the head, get a redout and other problems because there's no way to counteract a redout, and it may lead to health issues. Is an the issue? Did I got it wrong? 🙂
Thank you!
“You need an F-22 or an F-16.” Just going to snub the F-15 😂
🤙 good stuff
F-35s out of Luke AFB do zoom climbs the Friday before graduation. Love living in Arizona
What’s the difference between this and a low transition take off?
Hi, Mover. One question: Is Unres. done in MIL or 'burner? In combat, the advantages are clear. But, if it 'burner, aren't you increasing your risk to MANPADs?
Burner. Yes, but one hopes MANPADS aren't a huge risk right outside the wire. Still good to climb fast to get out of their engagement zone.
Next time i fly with my buddy in the cessna ima tell em to request a quick climb to 200 ft 😂 gotta work with what ya got
In a typical quick climb to say 15K', how many thousands of feet before your target altitude do have to start the level off roll?