I was at Offutt the day the Air Force took delivery of the first B-1 bomber. They put it through its paces for the crowd, and that thing was amazing. I know they didn’t quite take off straight up, but it was close enough that it sure looked like it from where I was standing.
I was there for that event, too. I thought the most impressive thing about that plane was how silent it was until it had gone past.
By which time it would have been, of course, too late to care.
Unfortunately, it sat on the tarmac for 2 weeks while A/C repair parts were flown in and the 2nd B1 had to be delivered to the wing that was going to fly it, but still...