On a Guard Tanker Mission to Panama to rotate A-7s back to the states many years ago. It was one of those rare days at Howard when the wind was blowing the wrong way and we had to take off inland towards a ridge line. I asked around to see if anyone knew what the obstacle height was off the end of that runway. Nobody seemed to know so I told them we couldn't go because our takeoff data was illegal. Lt. Col running the show told me the Active Duty guys did it and why was I not willing to do it? Told him we would go tomorrow when the winds were favoring the overwater departure. After some discussion (the A-7 guys were on our side) we delayed for 24 hours.
The next day the winds were okay and we got set to leave. The Lt. Col. was going to catch a ride with us back to the states. As we rotated just short of the overrun and skimmed out over the ocean I looked at him on the jump seat. All the color was gone from his face and he seemed to be clutching the seat cushion very firmly. I asked him how he thought that would have worked out with a tailwind or if we had lost an engine and were climbing towards the ridge line? Dead silence.