U.S. Air Force Boeing C-17 extremely short takeoff from ZRH - with cold engine start! 

I'm sorry to inform you. It is a McDonnell Douglas C17 Globemaster III. We designed it we built it. Boeing had nothing to do with it.

You don't have to be an aviation enthusiast to get a thrill out of watching this massive cargo aircraft take off! WOW, this big bird takes off in the air like she owns it, well, she probably does! Even the sound of the Globemaster slipping the surly bonds of Earth rumbles through you as she slips up into the wild blue. I guess with all that power, the C-17 doesn't have to eat a lot of runway before just lifting up effortlessly, amazing!

I watched a Hercules take off with a hostage rescue pack. Solid Propellent booster Rockets for really really short take off. Pilot lined up on runway gave it full power on all four turbo props and almost as soon as everything was going full power and rolling the pilot hit the JATO button. Four or six cannot remember rockets fired and the plane accelerated and took off, it almost went up vertically. Boosters burned for it seemed about 30 seconds. Pilot nosed down to level flight just before the JATO packs burned out and flew away as if nothing happened. It looked like the Space Shuttle taking off, awesome. Saw it at Oceana Air base in Virginia Beach many years ago.

These incredible aircraft fly low and slow over my house on training missions all the time. It's like watching a huge barn floating by. Awesome!!!

Take of starts at 6:45

I have been on several C 17's at U Tapao Airport in Thailand. Fantastic crews! Very well educated and --very polite! A compliment to the USA!

Was one of the McDonnell Douglas FAA Aircraft Dispatchers durung the Flight Test Program for the C-17 out of Long Beach CA. 1st fuselage was put in hanger to break wings off, 2nd for mechanical and the 3rd for electronic testing. Eventually program moved to Edwards AFB. Initial flight test done out over the Pacific in an area south of San Diego, called W291. Then went world wide for cold and hot weather testing. Aircraft did re-lights, hardovers, dives steep turns, hard landings, aborted takeoffs, standing water takeoffs and landings. Multi cargo drops at different altitudes like 50 feet above the runway. Every C-17 that came off the Production line did a 3 - 6 hour systems flight test before delivery to the Air Force.

I've never heard another plane sound quite the same. I've only heard it in person once, almost 20 years ago, but it was memorable.

I grew up hearing these and other planes take off near Travis AFB. I love them. To see something so massive as a C-17 or C-5 take off, while using such a small percentage of the runway, is incredible. And the sound they make is fantastic. Seriously I enjoy watching these take off and land as much as fighter jets. Edit: I can tell by the comments that I may have been to vague and the meaning is misunderstood. Hopefully this clarifies it.

~1/3 runway run to take-off. Impressive.

Very imprsive performance by these sophisticated airborne machines with robust earodynamics. Kudos to desingners and pilots.

to be honest, that was a normal take off for a C-17. I see them everyday, that was not a full military power takeoff where they stand it on its tail and just climb

I live just outside CFB Trenton , I see these things many time a week . They still impress me

That plane turns so effortlessly despite its size.

It's still amazing to me that these things fly. Mind blowing.

Back in 1991, I went to an air show at Reese AFB - Lubbock. I saw the Blue Angels (F-18), one of the first public displays of a U2, B-1, and even a F-119 flyover. The most entertaining part of the show was the JATO take-off of a C-130. It’s unbelievable how quickly these big birds can get airborne.

I lived in Germany for 2 years. I loved those dreary days like what is shown here. Gawd I miss that place!! The weather, the people, the night life, the small villages, amazing place!

I went to an airshow at homstead air base once.. they had the thunderbirds, F15s, F16s, F18s etc etc.. all kinds of incredibly cool planes putting on shows and the most impressive thing was seeing the C17 do a short take-off and landing.. that thing stops on a dime and takes off like the space shuttle Lol..

Yep. I grew up in Long Beach, CA (where they were made, (K) LGB airport) watching these take off all the time over my house! My dad worked supporting this program at McDonnell Douglas (and later Boeing of course) but they were something special when they took off. Later when I worked at the airport I'd see them doing pre-delivery tests like high speed taxis on the active runway and some wild high-performance takeoffs, often with a winged "wave" good-bye upon departing... I remember the last one leaving the plant. A sad day for sure for many of the die-hard Douglas-era people and everyone else alike... It's always a pleasure when they visit and come back home, usually for a local airshow or just a fuel up here. One of the few things I used to enjoy about living here...

Very cool to see it's Dover AFB C-17. I get to watch them fly over my house daily!

I grew up at LSZH/ZRH, love this A/P.

I was a crew chief on C141s and missed seeing working on these by a few years 😩

THANK YOU, for the video. My brother is a retired C-17 Pilot.

Such a beautiful plane.

Most likely its just another day at the office for the pilots and crew, but for me you have to be a genius to learn and fly that aircraft. JUST AMAZING to watch that big bird taxi and takeoff.

I was so ready to see something. WOW! really

The C-17 is a Vicious Warrior Aircraft. Great takeoff. And more so..I liked how the pilot banked into the clouds at the end of the video. It looked like the end of a movie. 👍🏽

I experienced this on P-27. They gave employee incentive flights. So exciting Great memory

felicidades por mantener las aviación en desarrollo

Fascinating shape this aircraft has with the down swept wings and huge tail plane

What a beauty! Amazing old bird.

SHE IS GORGEOUS !! I HAD ONE FLY OVER OUR HOUSE ALONG WITH 2 C-5 GALAXIES BEFORE. NEVER WILL FORGET THOSE 2 EVENTS...EVER. GOOSEBUMPS, CHILLS, TEARS BECAUSE I AM THE MILITARY 'S. NUMBER 1 FAN 💜💜💜

6:54 that's not very far from the taxiway entry point for that runway. That is pretty impressive...

I keep sayin ok, last video, but now I'm here.

Isnt that a beauty, very impressive. Love it !!!

Landscape mode and a steady hand. Hats off to you, sir!

Seems some people have no idea how huge this C17 is and so very little runway it took for it to rotate. And if this doesn't impress you, you should see the C5 fly. It actually looks like it is stopped in the air it is so huge.

What a beautiful plane.

i dedicate this to my dad and my brother rob, they loved this sort of thing

super cool take off ...almost looks like he is in slow motion always amzing some thing that big can fly

That smoke you see at the beginning is probably de-icer. I'm sure that if this was January in Zurich, it was cold enough to gather condensation and the water would freeze in the engines . They use de-icer to safely warm up the engines. As the engine heats up, it burns the de-icer and turns it to smoke. p.s. The take off looked pretty normal to me.

Looks like a very well designed airframe, clean elegant lines for a heavy lifter.

absolutely love big air ✈️

Eight minutes of my life I’ll never get back

I used to watch these take off from Eglin. It looked they were going slow enough to fall out of the sky. The weirdest sounding engines also.

Skip, skip, skip, ... Then 'wow', a SPECK of plane taking off. 'Insane!'

Thanks for reminding me of my very heavy father back in the day springing out of his chair and easily catching me no matter how much of a head start I had and beating the crap out of me. I mean, I wasn't a star athlete, but homeboy was damn fast for being over 300 pounds.

I see one of these touch and go at myrtle beach airport quite often. It's a beast.

The kid in the background, “Adios!” Lmao so cute.

Simply beautiful video...thank you very much. Ich hab' alles genoßen..Vielen Dank!!

Fantastic video! Congratulations!

That much Thrust positioned in front and below the wing , naturally Low pressure on top, Chapeau

Love the sound of the C-17!

i love the c-17 its gorgoues and i like the lovely swiss air boieng 777 taking off 😊😊

I really dig that self camo cold start feature... 😉

That is one beautiful bird.

Very impressive: Actually with enough thrust, you can make a barn door fly

USAF has the best cargo planes in the world! Amazing aircraft!

Great airplane spotting deck at Zurich. Wish more airports had these incorporated into their design.

That's a beautiful plane!!

My last two jumps in the Army was from the C17 at Bragg. We were testing mass exit. Great bird to jump from.

Did 21 years in the Air Force and working on the flight line. I have never seen a C-17 in person before. That should date me...

C-17s fly over my house frequently. So massive and majestic!

The C-17 is one of the meanest looking cargo aircraft out there

Plane was literally designed to use dirt runways and to be able to land and takeoff in the same distance as a C-130. Best military cargo lifter in the world.

Boeing hit a home-run on this bird. GO AIR FORCE. 👍👍

Love the C17

Reminds me of the C5 S I worked on 72-76

I remember during the first Iraq war. These cargo planes were flying loaded up out of Travis AFB. I lived pretty far away and their takeoff pattern took quite a bit of time to get to attitude. The sound of the engines sounded louder when working really hard.

Just watching the most beautiful airplane in the history of aviation makes me forgive the click bating tactics of the poster. The BAe 146 is a very close 2nd as far as beauty.

Watched them fly 5 years straight while locked up at FCI Fort Dix...amazing aircraft right there.

A C-17 is designed to carry tons and tons of cargo. When empty it is very light, relatively speaking. With the engines at maximum thrust and unloaded, it can probably fly straight up after taking off.

What was "insane" was me watching the whole damn thing.

As an ATP , I agree. Maybe they thought STOL meant SUper Take Off Larry!

This aircraft and the C 130 and the b 1 are my favorite ! Oh and raptor 22 and the f 16

BEAST! These are LOUDDDDD

I live near Nellis AFB, and I would pay to watch them. It's like a Symphony. We see them practice all the time. The Flight Team is comprised of some of the very best Pilots in the world. As a Lojwa Animal, I am proud to call them Brother's. They serve a great purpose. Every one of them I have met were pretty nice guys. After watching them almost daily for 2t years, they still amaze and impress me. Stay safe, Sirs!

Thanks for the upload...It looks like a beast! A great replacement for the C141 Which I found out in research...:) I worked C5's and 141's in the USAF...I have never seen a C17 in person...I'm surprised how closely they resemble the C-5, I almost thought it was mislabeled ..:)...I did some checking and realized why; I got out in 86, So I guess that's why, since they didn't get added till 91... 60th AMS Travis AFB 81-85

Awsone aircraft. I worked on it with Macdonald Douglas, Honeywell, and Teledyne. Fantastic capabilities.

Orville and Wilber are absolutely astonished

I worked at the Long Beach assembly plant. Been inside a C17. Big enough to roll 2 sherman tanks inside. Powerful enough to fly them. Incredible engineering.

The best sleep I've ever had on an aircraft. Flew into Afghanistan in a C-17 that was virtually empty, so they let us throw down our sleeping bags and stretch out. Wonderful airplane.

thats what the power of 4 - Boeing 757 Engines will get you

TROPS BIEN CF 17 GLOBEMASTER

Helped build the C-17 at MacDonald Douglas. 10 yrs. with 3 of them at 7-12s no days off. Job well done.

If this plane is stalling it's fuel injectors on both sides need to be washed out and sprayed out and clean out you got that right the lines need a checkup 🛑🚨💺🌍⛑️🌎🤝🎯💯🛫🇺🇸💌🌏👍🌹🌹❣️❣️

The insane part is watching this for 7 minutes before seeing it take off

That plane is massive!

That robust and powerful diesel heavy duty truck is more than capable of pushing that C-17 behemoth around wherever it needs to do so. (At very slow and deliberate speed, of course.)

perfect takeoff! nothing insane...

I was the Reliability and Maintainability Data Engineer at EAFB testing. I saw 5 in a row for takeoff. It was mindblowing

I appreciate the way you creatively edit so we only see it once it's already been rolling and we don't know how long it's actually been doing it. It's not like you were short on footage or time because you made us watch while every single engine started up but just before it actually did the takeoff you cut a bit away so we can't tell how long it's been rolling.

Team Dover!!!💪🏽💪🏽

Good Night :-) Nice video i like it

I see the C17s a lot here in New Jersey. Amazing aircraft.

Amazing to say the least!

The EXACT process of me getting out of bed for work...

thank you .... from the USA

Beautiful Take Off KUDDOS to the Pilots

Very Very Nice