Sights, Sounds, and Feel of a Night Mass Launch of Airplanes.

I’ve felt the heat of a B-1’s afterburner on my face. I’ve watched the runway shake as wave after wave of combat jets launched into the night. As a former KC-135 Strato-Bladder pilot, I was lucky to see things most people never will. During Air Force Weapons School Advanced Integration Phase, the culmination of 19 intense weeks of education and training, we launched twenty-six aircraft in about twenty minutes—B-1s, B-52s, F-15s, F-16s, EA-6Bs—all stepping into the dark sky together. When a B-1 “Bone” lights the burners, you feel it. The heat hits your skin. The engines vibrate through your chest. It’s raw power. Then in March 2003, at the start of Shock and Awe, I watched fifty to sixty fighters, tankers, and ISR aircraft launch from a single runway in about thirty minutes. Nonstop. Jet after jet. No hesitation. That’s what a real air campaign surge looks like. And as tensions rise in the Middle East, don’t be surprised if we see another mass night launch like that again. When tankers start moving, history is usually pretty close behind. Follow for real-world insight into how airpower actually launches, fights, and wins. #aviation #avgeek #military #airforce #army #navy #usmc #pilot #pilotlife #flight #flying #fly #aircraft #airplane #plane #jet #airport #photo #photography #video #videoviral #viralvideos #lessonsfromthecockpit #podcast #show #takeoff #drone