[criddell]

I've never been able to find it again, but I distinctly remember seeing video of Air Force One taking off from Sarasota on September 11, 2001. In my memory it was far louder than normal and climbed at a very steep angle.

I've always wondered if I was imagining that or if they really did act more aggressively to gain altitude quickly.

[joncrane]

I know in combat zones military cargo planes haul ass at much steeper angles than commercial flights because comfort is not an issue. Mostly to get out of rocket/missle range. Even small arms fire can damage engines.

on 9/11 it would have made sense to tell everyone to strap TF in we're going out hot!

[criddell]

I just searched for it and I found a story about Air Force One that morning in Sarasota:

https://www.jacksonville.com/news/20160904/anderson-morning-...

> Air Force One — the 747 that transports the President of the United States — took off in an unconventional direction and climbed nearly straight-up, like a rocket, at 8,000 feet per minute in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico. No one had ever seen such a steep and urgent ascent.

That's quite a trajectory for a 747.

[svachalek]

Wow, interesting. I used to work as a civilian for the Navy and if you needed to get to another Navy base you could usually hop on whatever plane was headed that way next. Kind of a fun experience and I thought they tended to take off more aggressively than commercial flights, but nothing like that!

[joncrane]

Nice detective work!