Lockheed pops reporter into T-50 cockpit

There was no turning back from my maiden trainer voyage aboard a Lockheed Martin T-50A once the glass canopy closed down above my head. As we slowly taxied down the runway, I mentally prepared myself for the moment I would flatten into my seat upon takeoff. But the afterburner helped lift the T-50 off at 124 knots in 1200 feet for such a smooth departure that I would be disappointed with my commercial flight back home later that evening.

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