>> The ground is a pretty safe place to be, the sky is a pretty safe place to be, but that first couple thousand feet between the ground and the sky is rather h

>> The ground is a pretty safe place to be, the sky is a pretty safe place to be, but that first couple thousand feet between the ground and the sky is rather hazardous and jetliners get out of it as quickly as possible. Then the problem here is trading safety for something - cost apparently. BTW, in a small plane I found soft field takeoffs quite fun. Nose up early, wheels up early, fly in ground effect to gain speed. I suppose that is a safety tradeoff and might not want to do it in some conditions.