>>Why would anyone take off at that angle if they didn't need to? Maybe it >>was a go around and he had to pull up quickly. Well they certainly appear to have achieved a positive rate of climb! >I would think many takeoffs are near maximum power, which as far as >I know is actually the safest. The copilot who selected maximum >power for his DC8 at JFK last week, and thus was able to climb over >a 767 sitting on the runway (wrong turn!), sure profited from his >decision. That depends heavily on the airline that the pilots are working for, and many other factors, like the airfield and/or loads involved. I'm pretty sure there is strong pressure for pilots to take off at reduced thrust settings, for reasons of engine longevity, through to fuel savings. I'm not condoning either practice, but in the airline game, I'd have to say that few take-offs would be at maximum power unless the pilots could justify it, unfortunately. As for the picture, I'm sure any pilot would relish the opportunity to take off like that if they could get away with it :-) -- Regards, Simon Craig If it's not McBoeing, I'm not McGoing!