**Kevbo **& Raguleader on near vertical departures:
The F-16 is about 99% as capable of vertical departures as the F-15 is. The canard about the F-15 having a greater than 1:1 thrust / weight ration & therefore being able to accelerate straight up is just that; a canard.
The reality: At sea level the early model F-15’s thrust/weight is ever so slightly greater than 1:1 when carrying no weapons & full internal fuel, while the early F-16’s t/w ratio is ever so slightly less than 1:1 under similar loadings. In either case, as soon as you add aerodynamic drag to the equation, neither aircraft can accelerate going straight up. And as soon as you add any meaningful altitude (which happens quickly going straight up-ish at 400+ knots), the T/W drops off to well less than 1:1.
The later models of both aircraft have gotten both heavier & more powerful, but in general weight has grown faster than thrust. And finally, a fighter without weapons & only a partial fuel load is very pretty, but not real useful.
Having said all that, you can still make one hell of an impressive departure in either jet. Get airborne in full blower, suck up the gear & stay level at 20-30 feet above the runway to the other end. For a typical fighter runway & a decently cool day you’ll be doing 400-450 knots (460-520 mph) by the far end of the runway. Then a smooth 3-4G pull to the vertical and away you go. 400 knots is roughly 40,000 feet per minute. So about 30 seconds later you’re passing through 20,000 feet slowing through about 250 knots. Roll to the desired departure heading & pull down to the horizon using 2-3G. You’ll level around 26,000 doing about 200 knots. Which is pretty slow for a fighter. Leave it in blower & you’ll be gaining > 10 knots/sec & will be back into decent airspeeds in another 5-10 seconds. Viola. The bad news is you’re only 2 miles from the end of the runway & down to at best 75% of full fuel. But it was fun and made a helluva noise!
As to ATC: These maneuvers are pretty common at any airport (civil or military) which hosts fighters on a regular basis. They’ll have a pre-planned departure procedure for that purpose. So while approval from ATC is required, it’s not like it entails some large investigation or dose of gumption on ATC’s part.
Aside: A common misconception about the interaction between pilots & ATC is that ATC is leading & airplanes are following. Not really. ATC is effectively required to say “yes” to any request they can reasonably accomodate. The only acceptable reason for ATC to ever say “no” is if saying “yes” would involve inconveniencing or hazarding another aircraft. They’re traffic coordinators, not traffic cops. As a practical matter, in congested airspace the only way to operate is to follow the herd. But even then the herd is gonna do what pilots need to do to get the job done. ATC’s job is to help comb the herd into an organized herd since we don’t have the tools to see the whole herd ourselves.
Oh yeah … The guy upthread who said he could land his Cessna at a military base any time he felt like it obviously has never had an M-16 stuffed in his ear. Don’t try that at home folks. Unless you’re on fire. And even then expect the M-16s to be right there next to the fire trucks.