One morning, just before finishing the course, my engine exploded and disintegrated (due to material fatigue) during a formation take-off as we headed out for a gunnery mission. Since the plane carried a full fuel and armament load, it was extrememl heavy and came down very fast and hard. F-80's were not equipped with ejection canopies or seats, so I could not bail out. A "Gear-up" landing was the correct procedure for this situation. If I had tried it with the gear down, it would have been much worse, maybe fatal.