Victor K1 take off at Gan often saw the aircraft reach the end of the runway with the wheels still on the ground. As the aircraft ran off the end of the island the wheels drooped to the flight configuration kicking up rooster tails from the water. Gan is 6ft above sea level.
Take offs at Masirah also used a lot of (all) of the runway, so Nos 2 & 3 in the stream were IF in dust storms at Rotate. This with a severely reduced fuel load.
Ah the luxury of the Conways in the K2.
As TTN suggests facing aft saved quite a lot on the laundry bills.