Thread: Another One Bites The Dust

I'm not saying that there is no drag reduction in ground effect, but any gains would be very quickly offset and exceeded by the drag coming from flying faster than the best rate of climb speed.

Yes, it is fun, and yes i have done it myself for fun but not as a safety measure. If the objective is safety by maximizing height vs time after rotation, it's a flawed theory.

I have a lot of time flying a transport category aircraft around 8500 kgs tow operated legally in an environment which dictated that we had to be airborne below the aircraft's published rotate speed. Basically we were airborne with the stall warning blaring, then would hold it a smidge off the ground in ground effect until best climb speed then climb out. We had this procedure developed via an extensive engineering test program through much flight performance testing (as we were operating legally over the manufacturers mtow) to get the aircraft as high as possible as soon as possible to maximize options in case of engine failure. Flight testing proved nailing the best climb speed was the way to do it.

Let's not forget the main reason to fly low in ground effect then pull up is because it's fun!