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Shooter's Gallery (as in Catapult, not firearms)
- Thread starter HeyJoe
- Start date
VA-86, CVW-8, CVN-68 Mid-'70's
What is coming off the canopy of that A-7?
As someone with an equally short attention span, I agree. The most exciting thread on here has been about how PCS orders aren't being written.
I am in shooter school this week, so I can wow you with my in depth knowledge of catapults and arresting gear, but I don't think that will do anything for your boredom.
I am in shooter school this week, so I can wow you with my in depth knowledge of catapults and arresting gear, but I don't think that will do anything for your boredom.
for e6bflyer, re shooter school, as a shooter for two and a half years, mostly on Yankee Station and later FTG Cats & AG instructor, you can be sure to generate a batch of seastorys of your own. My claim is that I never put one in the water that had anybody in it when it left the deck. Also, keep the chronograph tapes or what ever they use nowadays to measure endspeeds. May save your ass on a JAG investigation.
Hey...before my "TINS" tale...today, April 18...my brother's birthday...AND...sixty seven years ago today, Jimmy Doolittle did his thing off Enterprise, with 16 B-25s...little USN history here!!
(Or so I heard...No, I wasn't there! LOL!!)
Army B-25 leaving flight deck of USS Hornet bound for Tokyo with presents
(Or so I heard...No, I wasn't there! LOL!!)
Army B-25 leaving flight deck of USS Hornet bound for Tokyo with presents
Neither was I, but +1 for bringing up one of greatest flying episodes in US Military history and great example of Jointness before the word was coined. Just flying the stripped Army medium bombers off a carrier deck in Japaness waters was bold and challenging enough. Having chanced upon an unknown Japanese picket line hundreds of miles before the planned launch point forced them to decide to either abort before Japanese could respond or launch knowing they would not have enough fuel to reach their planned landing strips in China and have to ditch or bailout at sea with no hope of recovery.
They launched anyway and dealt the first blow against the ongoing Japanese juggernaut that had been steamrolling allied territory since December and was bursting with militaristic pride and superiority. Despite all bombers being subsequently lost, the impact on morale in the United States was off the charts and dealt the Japanese a serious blow to their Samurai spirit and feeling of invincibility. Then came the first serious body blow and strategic setback to Japanese plans of conquest at the Battle of Coral Sea in May and the tide turning victory at Midway in June showing the Japanese that the American giant was now awake (as Yamamoto allegedly predicted would happen within 6 months) and throwing powerful punches right back at 'em from then on.
Don't know if this has been discussed or not (at any length), but we were discussing this crash video and how it could have been prevented in class the other day:
It looks to me that you can see the foul deck light reflected off the jet and the waveoff was clearly issued (although late). So...in an effort to learn more about this floating boat thing that launches and catches airplanes, who or what could have prevented this from happening? Can the pilots see the foul deck light, or are they concentrating too much on pilot shit?
It looks to me that you can see the foul deck light reflected off the jet and the waveoff was clearly issued (although late). So...in an effort to learn more about this floating boat thing that launches and catches airplanes, who or what could have prevented this from happening? Can the pilots see the foul deck light, or are they concentrating too much on pilot shit?
From those of us doing our aviation appreciation tour:
View from the top of historic Hangar One. The climb to the top is a shooter school tradition. It's about twice as high and four times as big as a standard hangar. For those who don't know, Lakehurst used to be an airship base and is the site of the Hindenburg crash. No, that's not me in the photo.
We went out to the ALRE test site. This is a picture of the first full scale EMALS (electromagnetic catapult), currently under construction. Good luck getting it installed on CVN-78 in time!
View from the top of historic Hangar One. The climb to the top is a shooter school tradition. It's about twice as high and four times as big as a standard hangar. For those who don't know, Lakehurst used to be an airship base and is the site of the Hindenburg crash. No, that's not me in the photo.
We went out to the ALRE test site. This is a picture of the first full scale EMALS (electromagnetic catapult), currently under construction. Good luck getting it installed on CVN-78 in time!
The launch bulletins do have those a/c included still and I don't know why. They aren't included in the ABE sets either in the bubble or at center deck. All weight settings are set by the shooter (99% of the time an aviator of some flavor) so a lot of tomfoolery is prevented. I'm not saying there isn't AB buffoonery.... only that there are some admin safety nets in place.
I meant for the AG weight settings. As far as I could tell, the only check on that was whatever the kid manning the gear read back to the guy in the tower. Are there any other checks? I don't claim to be an expert, just sayin' what I saw.
A wrong weight setting for the arresting gear's not as bad as a cold cat, but still not something you'd want to get fucked up, right?
The AG guy in our tower had to verbally confirm to the Air Boss what he was reading from his computer screen. Each time the gear was reset after a trap and after confirming what type is next in line he would say something like "Gear set Prowler..." and whatever a prowler max trap weight setting is, i forget. Then, our Air Boss would repeat what he just said in acknowledement.
There are 3 AB types that sit behind the Air Boss. 1 is a white shirt aft spotter who verifies a/c type and location. Case 1: type a/c at the initial, and as it comes through the 90, a/c type and gear/hook setting. Case 3: Light configuration (hence a/c type) and gear config. The 2 green shirts behind the Boss do the following: One guy sets the lens according to a/c type and the other guy (gear pri fly operator) runs the arresting gear computer system. At least 6 people and the LSOs themselves verify what type a/c is next to land: the Arresting Gear Officer (AGO), the arresting gear deck edge operator (tells AGO the gear is set to the correct weight, verifies the engine is ready to arrest a/c, and retracts the wire after it's clear of the a/c). LSO spotter (white shirt who's on sound powered phones) on the LSO platform, the aft lookout, the gear prifly operator and the Boss himself.
The computer already has the single weight settings for each a/c. Once the operator pushes the correct a/c in, the computer sets all 4 arresting gear engines below decks to the correct setting. Each engine has an operator who verifies the engine is good to go and is set (also known as "battery"). They all report on soundpowered phones to the gear deck edge operator and the prifly operator the engine is set. The gear prifly operator looks left to see the lens is set and calls out to the Boss "Gear/Lens set 440 Rhino Battery" and will repeat this until the Boss repeats it back to him. The Boss also has a screen over his head that indicates the gear weight setting, lens is set, engine is in battery and if the deck is clear to land a/c. The screen also indicates whether MOVLAS is being used, etc.
Sorry for the long answer, but as an educational point, I don't think most folks know how many people are involved in making sure things are set right and how much double checking is done to make sure it's safe to recover a/c aboard (or launch).
There is really zero room for error in launching or recovery. A wrong weight setting on recovery most likely (IMO) would cause equipment damage, but the possibility is there for disaster for the aircrew/deck crew/below deck crew. I haven't heard of a cold cat shot in many many years. My worse nightmare as a shooter was if the holdback bar released prematurely while in tension. Thankfully that's also a rare occurrence and I walked away bootless from my tour.
Happened to a guy on JFK during workups; Hornet spat a holdback fitting and the pilot went for Mr Toad's Wild Ride. Managed to get it stopped on deck, though.
A lose-lose for everyone. This guy is always in a bad position for the early release.....
