Aircraft carriers
O.T. Rush explained a problem confronting our Navy in its flight operations. An aircraft carrier is capable of round-the-clock operations in theory, but carriers staff only one flight deck crew, so around the clock operations are not really possible, as the deck crews must rest. A carrier flight deck is one of the most dangerous work environments there is.
This draws a question: how busy would a carrier be at night. Night landings are scary and dangerous. I would think that the Navy would be reluctant to step up the pace of such. I invite commentary from those more knowledgable about night operations. Now I understand that flinging aircraft off carriers into the dark is quite another matter, so launching in the wee hours, with the planes returning after sun-up, then operating till dark, still makes for a long workday.
Nitpicking word watch
The debt deal made last night elicited the now-overused "kick the can down the road" phrase from a reporter this AM. In fairness to the reporter, the deal does appear to put off really dealing with the issue, and the automatic spending cut provision of it lets our spineless legislators off the hook for not being able to come to a long-term agreement.
On the same topic, commentator Cokie Roberts said that the leaders who made the deal the now must convince wary legislators to vote for it. No, Cokie, they don't. However, they must persuade wary legislators to so vote in favor of it, convinced by the arguments for it or not.
I actually saw a post from Richard Creed on the Journal site recently. He would be well pleased with the pointing out of incorrect verbage.
ReplyDeleteAfter the change-over, I was a bit surprised to see that several of the more prominent Forsyth County movers and shakers were fellow posters.
though perhaps not with the spelling.. verbiage instead of verbage
ReplyDeleteUS Navy carriers routinely operate at night, both for training and operational purposes.
ReplyDeleteIt IS a bit more dangerous, but with computerization of most landing and takeoff operations, it is far less dangerous than it was forty years ago.
It was still dark and waves were washing over the flight decks when the first Japanese planes took off on the morning of December 7,1941 for Pearl Harbor. Every plane got safely airborn.
The weather was so bad that the mission was almost scrubbed by the admiral in charge, but the pilots protested that they had been training for over six months and wanted to go, now. There is nothing quite like a carrier pilot, no matter what uniform he is wearing...very special people.
On occasion, even today, night operations can get pretty hairy. The links below are to a two part video shot on the USS Nimitz when night landings became complicated by high, choppy seas.
Carrier pilots are usually a pretty stoic bunch. It is instructive to see the tension on the faces of the pilots in the wardroom watching their colleagues attempts to land.
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=4gGMI8d3vLs
Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=S0yj70QbBzg
This is great stuff.
Can't watch the videos currently but will later. I recently saw a clip of a night landing that went awry. The plane (I think it was an F-18), skidded off the deck on landing, pilot ejected and both he and the jet went into the H2O. The pilot was recovered.
ReplyDeleteI saw another clip sometime back of a carrier deck crewman being sucked into a jet's intake. He survived, fortunately.
And anyone who has watched WW2 footage has surely seen the Hellcat land and spin into the carrier's island, with the plane breaking in half just aft of the wings. No fire and the pilot appeared to be OK, but no doubt nonplussed.
One of my friends who flew F-4s off carriers over North Viet Nam was a real hotshot. In fact, he had three Phantoms SHOT out from under him, then was rotated to Miramar as a "Top Gun" instructor. He likes to say "Yeah, they needed somebody there to teach the boys how to get shot down."
ReplyDeleteThe first two he nursed back out over blue water, then ejected and let the plane crash into the sea. The third one was probably worse than the first two, but he had been mercilessly teased by his colleagues about the first two, so was thinking "I've gotta get this one back on the deck." Which, through a long, nailbiting ordeal, and to everyone's astonishment, he did. It was pretty much a pancake landing.
He jumped out of the cockpit, triumphant, and saluted the bridge. The salvage crew took a quick look and with a sneer, pushed the carcass overboard. So much for heroes.
Some years later in retirement, he made his own satellite TV dish. He was on his roof in sunny Florida installing it when his foot slipped. He plunged 20 feet off the roof and landed on his head. He lingered in intensive care, given up for dead, for weeks.
A couple of months later we were busy making funeral arrangements when he got up and walked out of the hospital unassisted. But now he knows who the real enemy is:
"DISH TV," he growls.
O. T., that is really interesting. Did your friend say whether his WSO's survived the bailouts? He is a tough bird, and we owe him our thanks for his service.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to note that WSO was, and probably still is, the Air Force designation for "Weapons System Officer", the guy who sat in the back seat of the F4 in Viet Nam. The Navy used the term RIO, meaning "Radar Intercept Officer" for much the same purpose, although probably more accurate, because the biggest problem in flying over NVN was that NVN had a pretty sophisticated radar activated air defense system that included SAMs, antiaircraft batteries, and, on occasion, interceptor aircraft.
ReplyDeleteMy friend really hated the interceptors, flown by competent pilots (probably not Vietnamese). The MiG-21 was a particular problem because of its small size and profile which made it very difficult to see, either by eyesight or radar. He had a few encounters with those, which, fortunately for him, ended in draws.
I have had the honor to meet and talk with both of my friend's RIOs. The one on the first two crashes was so severely wounded on the second mission that he was separated, apparently against his will, from the Navy.
The one who survived the "pancake" landing is also still with us. He, although wounded, was so offended by the cavalier treatment of their "saved" aircraft being pushed overboard that he confronted the squadron commander to lodge an official protest, which, of course, came to nothing.
My pilot friend is well aware of my opinion that he was temporarily insane during this period, and in fact, he agrees. But I have to say that his RIOs were even crazier, both of whom also agree.
All three are much older and wiser now. One might assume that they would say that they would not now do what they did then. But guess what. One would be wrong. Because they are still three crazy guys who could not avoid a challenge, then or now.