F/A-18 Hornets - 30-40 knot Cross Wind Take-Off

This video became corrupted on Yotube.

Try this video below:
2017 Wings Over Illawarra F/A-18 Hornet Display here:

Film at Wings Over Illawarra 2014 (Wollongong Airport) May 4th.
Please see this video before commenting regarding wind condition;

Airshow was cancelled due to heavy winds, except for 4 Jets performing. (2 Horntets, Jeff Trappett Sabre, & Marchetti S211 Jet)

Hornets arrivals and landing on that day here;

Another video version showing the wind condition on that day:

Shot with Panasonic TM900 with Canon 1.7x tele-converter;

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[commandingnationsintl]

Love how the second pilot saw the difficulties and made adjustments for perfect take off.

[jeffreyhutchins]

I'm just a simple old ground pounder. In Iraq I saw an F/A18 come in drop her ordinance, hit the burners and go vertical to get out of dodge. I don't know how many feet above the ground that maneuver was pulled, but the speed with which it happened made impressed the hell out of me, and still does more than 15 years later.

[chriskelleher]

No, I don't think we'll take off side by side today.

[grannygear]

On a family day cruise on an aircraft carrier my son was stationed on, we saw these Hornets do an air show complete with fly byes & sonic booms. There were two Tom Cats also. Amazing.

[thefrecklepuny]

Love the way the Hornet flexes it's control surfaces. Like a boxer limbering up before the first round!

[Inkling]

Impressive skill! I love almost everything about flying but landing and taking off in cross-winds. It's amazing to see anyone do it.

[hamletthaus]

It’s amazing how far aviation has come in 100 years.

[pwo]

For an aircraft that's now over 30 years old, they still put on a great show and still pack an enormous punch. Great video.

[blaggard]

This youtube clip will be one for the ages, incredible footage!

[a.m.c..]

Finally, somebody whit a good camera fillming the event 👍...

[nathantw]

So refreshing watching clean video from a quality camera and lens.

[brokerhenry]

Royal Australian Airforce! I'm Aussie from Killara, New South Wales. Living in Minnesota!

[AssyrianKingever]

Damn, the quality of this video is crazy. Seemed like I was actually there 

[elvisjerrylee]

It says in the title exactly what it is they will do and they do exactly what the title says....How could anyone give this a thumbs down ???? Some people are so out of it !!!

[steveokinevo]

Cool vid, the 2nd pilot did a much better job on his crosswind takeoff technique compared to the first pilot.

[mrrentaspace]

Was there that day. Wind was pretty insane and the hornets were the only things allowed to fly.
Everyone that was attending the show affectionately renamed the day to 'wind over the illawarra'

[MojoPup]

Beautiful! Was a ARFF at a ski resort airport in Colorado. One late summer day, we had this Belgium family getting ready to leave in their Beech Twin. 2 adults, 2 kids... loads of luggage. That plane was damn near its max takeoff weight.

Now, understand... this airport was at 9, 078' and it was a hot, windy day. We're talking 35+ knot crosswinds. Even the commercial turboprop almost tipped his wing to the runway.

Now I know from working there that the winds will die down about 30 minutes before sunset... which is only about an hour away. I tried to convince the pilot to wait 30 minutes for the reduced winds, but he was Belgium and I was just a local yokel..

So I go grab my gear and the Fire Truck, roll out to one of the ramps in case he crashes. I watch as he rolls down the runway, almost running off into the grass several times before limping off. I should mention here that our runway had a serious dip in the middle. You didn't want to take off before the halfway point unless you had serious power or else you might kiss the second half.

So he takes off a little early, crosswind pushing him over.. wing came within a foot of touching before he compensated. Then he gets to the part where a hill blocks the crosswinds for about 40 yards, causing him to damn near touch his left wingtip! He compensates just as he's clearing the hill and the crosswind hits him again, rolling him to the right. I could've sworn he left paint on that last one. Lol.

By the time he clears the end of the runway, barely 15' above it... he sinks into the canyon beyond. Fortunately, the canyon goes West and downhill. I didn't see him come back up for about 6 miles down canyon. I sure hope he crapped his pants that day for being so damn arrogant and putting his family at risk like that.

[garethbliss]

Second guy saw first guy and thought more left rudder 🙂

[smudent]

Lead is always supposed to take up the downwind side of the runway for this reason exactly. He hammered #2's flight controls with his thrust and would have introduced hot exhaust gases into his air intake.

[jerrytaylor]

They look more like Harrier jump jets taking off vertically with all that crosswind.