This is a really impressive take off!
Last week, the video of a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner taking off and pull off an amazing aerial display during rehearsals of Paris Air Show 2015 went viral.
The civil liner, that has already proved to be extremely maneuverable, especially in the hands of experienced test pilots, filmed from above seems to go “nearly perpendicular to the ground” immediately after taking off.
Here’s the video.
Cool, even though most of (if not all) the modern liners, equipped with fly-by-wire controls, powerful engines and innovative designs, are much more maneuverable than previous generations aircraft.
Now, take a look at the following footage (if the embed does not work, click here).
It was shot at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base airshow in 1991 and shows a U.S. Air Force KC-10A Extender aerial refueler perform a very high angle take off. Although the tanker was probably empty, it’s still a quite impressive show for such a large (and obsolete) aircraft.
