re: Story behind a famous Navy flyby

Back in the mid to late '90s, I went to the air show in Belle Chasse and there was a Tomcat demo that day. They're very large and very loud. Towards the end of the demo, they showed off the power of the engines by making a low pass, engine nozzles only about 40' off the deck (flames were hitting the runway), at least 60 degree nose up attitude, and barely moving forward. Then, they went full burner (if they weren't already), dropped the nose and hauled arse out of there.

It was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen at an air show. I don't know how wide the runway is, but the heat lit the grass on fire. They delayed the next act to roll the base fire trucks out to extinguish the fire. It was fricking awesome!