Can’t be more heart stopping than watching a F/A-18 grab the 3 wire on your carrier as a deck ape & the AIM-9 Sidewinder comes flying off the port wing. They once said human’s can’t break the speed of sound on foot, that day proved otherwise.
I wore a green shirt on the BIG E in 74!
How about watching an A-6 lose and engine just before rotation at takeoff with 12 Mk82’s on the pylons and 3 drop tanks from 34R runway heading toward morning rush our on the Alton Parkway with bumper traffic heading to highway 241. He emergency jettisoned all the stores to keep it in the air to avoid overshooting the runway into traffic. He got airborne and we watched 12 live fused bombs (unarmed) and three drop tanks bounce down the runway and hit the fence just short of the highway. The pilot barley cleared the traffic getting it airborne. Will never forget that one.