Interesting. I do recall the U2 needed a chase car for landing [0], but I don't remember the challenges in takeoff. Any good resources on it? The concept I found in this essay occurred to me a few days ago after reading a news article about refueling aircraft for sale [1] and I thought hey why can't "they" "just" build an aircraft that takes off with normal jet fuel and at proper altitude and speed is refueled with rocket fuel? So I had to do a little digging, and it turns out it has been researched by NASA backed scientists, and it isn't even a half bad idea! Better than a lot of "why can't they just" ideas at least.
Anyways - if you have resources on the take off issues with high-performance aircraft, I would appreciate it :)
[0] https://www.jalopnik.com/the-140-mph-chase-cars-of-the-u-s-a...
[1] https://www.twz.com/air/kc-10-extender-tankers-are-up-for-au...