Seen a few of these beast doing touch and goes at Charleston AFB/JB Charleston, South Carolina today alongside Marine Corps F/A-18D Hornets from MCAS. Beaufort, South Carolina down the coast. That one Hornet I saw rattled the RCM Maritime Training Center I'm attending today around 12:45. Those twin General Electric F404-GE-402 Turbofan Engines in Full Afterburner ( Blowers Lit ) are super loud!! I had my radio with me and I heard them giving takeoff clearance to them and the C-17s from Runway 33/15!!
Interesting how they throttle those 4 Pratt & Whitney F117-PW-100 High-bypass Turbofan Engines to full thrust then after they get clearance from ATC and ARTCC they release the brakes then its starts it's takeoff. This Aircraft with its oversized flaps and engine thrust blowing into them makes an impressive short assault landing and can stop quickly and even backup with its thrust reversers. You will hear the old saying from the loadmasters on the radio talking to the Pilots saying "Come on Back" when they are reversing it! Interesting to watch with the engines create vortexes in front of the engine intakes when in reverse thrust
