the 18 has to use the rudders because it does not have enough elavator to rotate. the fix was to feed a bunch of rudder in and then they can rotate for take off. heck, the a 6 had to use skids under the front tires for land take off. the tires would blow if not for the skid plantes. it was never designed for land use. the f 14 could do a true cobra. it is a simple full up manuver to the point that the aircraft just pancakes into the air at a 90 degree angle of attack.