Navy Chief
Senior Member
My former A-7E pilot friend just sent this to me. Keep in mind while reading it that a lot of the terminology will be elementary to you already. But I really like reading Fred's stories. Brings back a lot of memories for me too:
See the 67 on the bow (pointy end of the boat)? My bunk was right below the flight deck, at the base of the numeral 6. I was so close to the catapult track, that the wall next to my upper bunk was at an angle for the catapult track. When the cats fired, I knew it. After about 3 days, I slept through it all.
(For those of you who are not familiar, the aircraft carrier has four catapults that launch planes. Two "bow" cats, at the front of the boat, and two "waist" cats, in the middle, adjacent to the "island". Behind each catapult track, is a rectangular device called a JBD - Jet Blast Deflector. If swings up to prevent the jet blast from when the launching plane goes to full power, from hitting the plane directly behind it. If you look, you can see them.)
Each of the four catapults is steam powered. They are each like a huge double-barrelled shotgun under the deck that runs the length of the catapult (cat) shot. Two pistons, each a little bigger than a basketball in diameter, linked together. A device called a "shuttle" sticks up out of the top of the deck along a slot in the deck, and is used to attach to the jet plane.
We could, fully loaded (my A-7 weighed 21,500 lbs. empty; max catapult weight was 42,000 lbs.) hit 205 kts. off the end of the cat, in 2.2 seconds. Cat track was 220 ft. It was quite a ride. My plane was perhaps the smallest on the boat. I think those catapults could launch a Saab to South America if they had to.
As you can imagine, stopping all that inertia at the end of the cat shot (for the catapult pistons) was an engineering feat. Here's how it was done. There was a device at the end of the cat stroke (at the bow of the boat), under the deck, called a "water break". It was, essentially, a large container of water. At the front end of each cat piston was a device that looked very much like a golf tee, pointing forward, with the wide end of the "tee" on the front of the piston. At the end of the stroke, the pointy end of the "tee" would enter an orifice, water filled, and as the "tee" progressed and its diameter increase, it was slowed down by the effect of the water. It happened very quickly.
I slept right under the flight deck, way up front of the boat in a 6 man bunk room called "The Lodge". Sometimes we'd conduct ops for 72 hrs. straight, three days, non-stop. Launches every 2.2 hours for three days. I'd be laying in my top bunk, and I'd hear a very faint roar; it was the jet going to military (full) power on the cat. Then, after a few seconds of that, there would be a very faint lurch, or faint "bump" in the boat. That's when the cat fired. Then a very subtle sound like a freight train going by. When the cat hit the water break, sometimes my pictures would fall off the wall by my bunk. Then, the sound of the cat being retracted; like the sould of someone pulling a child's wagon over cracks in a sidewalk, only very quickly. One minute later, it would happen again. For three days and nights.
An experienced flight deck crew is expected to launch planes on one minute intervals, (from four cats) and recover them in 50 second intervals. Recovery time is precious, because from the time the last plane is launched and the last one recovered (landed), (toward the end of a "cycle" it happens simultaneously - jets are launched off the pointy end of the boat, and recovered at the back at the same time) the deck crew has to fuel the next flight, arm the planes, move them for launch, and do any repairs that can be effected on deck. Getting 25 Navy carrier jets turned around in 2 hours is a chore.
Once, the Captain of the USS John F. Kennedy, Capt. Jerry Tuttle, announced that any pilot with a landing interval over a certain amount of seconds, I forget what (but the expected "interval" was 50 seconds) would come to the bridge of the boat after landing, and explain personally why he screwed up the ship's schedule. So, naturally, I had to do that. I went up there, and there was a line of pilots outside the door to the bridge. He came out, yelled at all of us at once, called us all assholes, and told us to do better, and try to not wreck any of his planes or screw up his boat. Then, he invited us to get the f**k off his bridge. I was never so happy to go down 9 decks of steps in my life. We all scurried away, looking at each other and just grinning from ear to ear. Tuttle loved us all like sons, but wanted us to know that he expected perfection, and the next time, he would not be so nice.
Look at the picture. Toward the end of the boat, there are some F-14 Tomcats, the ones with the swept wings. There's one, then behind it two, then three. Our ready room was right below the flight deck, where the right side Tomcat is of the two parked together. There's a camera in the flight deck (one of many), that looks right up the glide slope when planes are coming in to land, and real-time video is shown in each Ready Room of landings. We see it as it happens. Imagine seeing a jet about a quarter mile away, and it gets bigger, and bigger. Then BOOM, it hits the deck and you feel it a bit. After a while, we'd know when to hide. A guy would "settle in close", hit short of the three wire. Stuff would fall from storage overhead. 25 tons, 160 mph, descending at 1,000 ft/min. Makes an impression.
Naval Air. Nothing like it in the world. The Fist Of The Fleet.
When I was still in jet school, at Naval Air Station Meridian, we lived in a building call the Bachelor Officer's Quarters (BOQ) - looked just like a Holiday Inn, three stories. Each officer has his own bedroom, with a common living room/kitchen between - three rooms for 2 guys. Once, upon arriving there at the end of a day, two roommates on the top story had taken some sheets, tied them together, and hung them from the windows of their "suite". Written in huge letters were these words: "FLY YOUR OWN JET". So, I did.
One other recollection: When I'd trap (land) at night on the boat, I'd taxi to a parking spot, and shut her down. Look at the picture, and see the line of sailors "manning the rails" right in front of the island on the starboard (right) side of the boat. There is an exterior ladder on the Kennedy, that goes from the flight deck to a door to the next interior deck below, right by the last sailor in front of the island. If you take that exterior ladder, standing on it, you can look below at the ocean going by at 25 knots. Not sure why, but I always went below decks that way at night. I guess I'd already been scared ****less for one night, so what was the harm. Death wish? Giving Fate a "Wet Willy"? I'd just landed a 12 ton jet on a boat, at 2 AM, in the middle of the ocean, with 1200 lbs. of remaining fuel. I kinda liked those outside ladders. Seemed safe. And, the view and sounds were extraordinary. Sometimes, I'd just stand outside the door to the lower deck, and just listen to the sea.
I was 63 yrs. old yesterday. It's been quite a ride. God is so good to me. Thank you, God. Fred
See the 67 on the bow (pointy end of the boat)? My bunk was right below the flight deck, at the base of the numeral 6. I was so close to the catapult track, that the wall next to my upper bunk was at an angle for the catapult track. When the cats fired, I knew it. After about 3 days, I slept through it all.
(For those of you who are not familiar, the aircraft carrier has four catapults that launch planes. Two "bow" cats, at the front of the boat, and two "waist" cats, in the middle, adjacent to the "island". Behind each catapult track, is a rectangular device called a JBD - Jet Blast Deflector. If swings up to prevent the jet blast from when the launching plane goes to full power, from hitting the plane directly behind it. If you look, you can see them.)
Each of the four catapults is steam powered. They are each like a huge double-barrelled shotgun under the deck that runs the length of the catapult (cat) shot. Two pistons, each a little bigger than a basketball in diameter, linked together. A device called a "shuttle" sticks up out of the top of the deck along a slot in the deck, and is used to attach to the jet plane.
We could, fully loaded (my A-7 weighed 21,500 lbs. empty; max catapult weight was 42,000 lbs.) hit 205 kts. off the end of the cat, in 2.2 seconds. Cat track was 220 ft. It was quite a ride. My plane was perhaps the smallest on the boat. I think those catapults could launch a Saab to South America if they had to.
As you can imagine, stopping all that inertia at the end of the cat shot (for the catapult pistons) was an engineering feat. Here's how it was done. There was a device at the end of the cat stroke (at the bow of the boat), under the deck, called a "water break". It was, essentially, a large container of water. At the front end of each cat piston was a device that looked very much like a golf tee, pointing forward, with the wide end of the "tee" on the front of the piston. At the end of the stroke, the pointy end of the "tee" would enter an orifice, water filled, and as the "tee" progressed and its diameter increase, it was slowed down by the effect of the water. It happened very quickly.
I slept right under the flight deck, way up front of the boat in a 6 man bunk room called "The Lodge". Sometimes we'd conduct ops for 72 hrs. straight, three days, non-stop. Launches every 2.2 hours for three days. I'd be laying in my top bunk, and I'd hear a very faint roar; it was the jet going to military (full) power on the cat. Then, after a few seconds of that, there would be a very faint lurch, or faint "bump" in the boat. That's when the cat fired. Then a very subtle sound like a freight train going by. When the cat hit the water break, sometimes my pictures would fall off the wall by my bunk. Then, the sound of the cat being retracted; like the sould of someone pulling a child's wagon over cracks in a sidewalk, only very quickly. One minute later, it would happen again. For three days and nights.
An experienced flight deck crew is expected to launch planes on one minute intervals, (from four cats) and recover them in 50 second intervals. Recovery time is precious, because from the time the last plane is launched and the last one recovered (landed), (toward the end of a "cycle" it happens simultaneously - jets are launched off the pointy end of the boat, and recovered at the back at the same time) the deck crew has to fuel the next flight, arm the planes, move them for launch, and do any repairs that can be effected on deck. Getting 25 Navy carrier jets turned around in 2 hours is a chore.
Once, the Captain of the USS John F. Kennedy, Capt. Jerry Tuttle, announced that any pilot with a landing interval over a certain amount of seconds, I forget what (but the expected "interval" was 50 seconds) would come to the bridge of the boat after landing, and explain personally why he screwed up the ship's schedule. So, naturally, I had to do that. I went up there, and there was a line of pilots outside the door to the bridge. He came out, yelled at all of us at once, called us all assholes, and told us to do better, and try to not wreck any of his planes or screw up his boat. Then, he invited us to get the f**k off his bridge. I was never so happy to go down 9 decks of steps in my life. We all scurried away, looking at each other and just grinning from ear to ear. Tuttle loved us all like sons, but wanted us to know that he expected perfection, and the next time, he would not be so nice.
Look at the picture. Toward the end of the boat, there are some F-14 Tomcats, the ones with the swept wings. There's one, then behind it two, then three. Our ready room was right below the flight deck, where the right side Tomcat is of the two parked together. There's a camera in the flight deck (one of many), that looks right up the glide slope when planes are coming in to land, and real-time video is shown in each Ready Room of landings. We see it as it happens. Imagine seeing a jet about a quarter mile away, and it gets bigger, and bigger. Then BOOM, it hits the deck and you feel it a bit. After a while, we'd know when to hide. A guy would "settle in close", hit short of the three wire. Stuff would fall from storage overhead. 25 tons, 160 mph, descending at 1,000 ft/min. Makes an impression.
Naval Air. Nothing like it in the world. The Fist Of The Fleet.
When I was still in jet school, at Naval Air Station Meridian, we lived in a building call the Bachelor Officer's Quarters (BOQ) - looked just like a Holiday Inn, three stories. Each officer has his own bedroom, with a common living room/kitchen between - three rooms for 2 guys. Once, upon arriving there at the end of a day, two roommates on the top story had taken some sheets, tied them together, and hung them from the windows of their "suite". Written in huge letters were these words: "FLY YOUR OWN JET". So, I did.
One other recollection: When I'd trap (land) at night on the boat, I'd taxi to a parking spot, and shut her down. Look at the picture, and see the line of sailors "manning the rails" right in front of the island on the starboard (right) side of the boat. There is an exterior ladder on the Kennedy, that goes from the flight deck to a door to the next interior deck below, right by the last sailor in front of the island. If you take that exterior ladder, standing on it, you can look below at the ocean going by at 25 knots. Not sure why, but I always went below decks that way at night. I guess I'd already been scared ****less for one night, so what was the harm. Death wish? Giving Fate a "Wet Willy"? I'd just landed a 12 ton jet on a boat, at 2 AM, in the middle of the ocean, with 1200 lbs. of remaining fuel. I kinda liked those outside ladders. Seemed safe. And, the view and sounds were extraordinary. Sometimes, I'd just stand outside the door to the lower deck, and just listen to the sea.
I was 63 yrs. old yesterday. It's been quite a ride. God is so good to me. Thank you, God. Fred
