David will appreciate this - In earlier years when constantly hopping from job site to job site,I was returning to New England one evening from Atlanta.Aircraft was a loaded 727.Pilot was in a hurry to make up sched time and did run up on the taxiway just pulling onto runway and going for it.I was waiting for the increasing G force but it stayed quite linear.I rationalized that it was due to loading but in my gut I knew we had a problem.I couldn't believe this guy was going ahead with the takeoff.We ate up a lot of runway(mind you,this is the old configuration of Atlanta) before he tried to rotate but it was obvious it wasn't going to leave the runway.At that point the nose came down, the clam shells came out and max thrust applied.You mentioned the G force throwing you forward against the belts - you were not exaggerating;with engines screaming,brakes juddering and the aircraft lurching trying to stop,I was wondering how much runway was left.Just at that point the warning strips flashed by.Now the plane was finally stopping but suddenly the pilot abruptly turned left.As the plane turned it almost went onto the right wingtip but stayed on the wheels.It was then I saw the containment barriers out my right side window,not more than a few yards in front of us - the pilot had done just as you indicated and turned into the emergency area toward open field in an effort to avoid the barrier. The plane stopped right there with a lurch,engines momentarily still in full reverse.Immediately after throttle down,the co-pilot made a run for the lavatory. Turns out we were trying to take off with two engines pulling forward and one in reverse.The cockpit indicator had shown all reversers in retracted position so pilot thought he was good to go.When stopping he had all 3 in the right direction. The only quicker stop that I can remember was a head-on crash. David,that 4G figure seems realistic. A.J.
