Life Experiences 200402

      

Cat Launch

One of the most exhilarating experiences of my life was being launched off a catapult when I left the ship in 1968. It was in a carrier on board delivery plane, basically the same as the picture above, but without the rotating dome or early warning radar. That way the cargo plane had lots of room for mail, parts and people. Even though it was a cargo plane, the cat shot was the same as a jet interceptor plane. With the catapult, a plane (any plane) goes from 0 to 165 miles per hour in less than 2 seconds! If the cat has an unexpected failure, the plane goes right off the edge of the flight deck, falls approximately 80 feet into the ocean and hits it hard! The plane goes into the water upside down, making it difficult for a pilot to exit the plane. Pilots practice for that in flight training, but in training they know what will happen and how it will happen. In a situation unexpected and violent, the training can and does fail.

      An example of this happened on my first time on board ship. We were out on carrier qualifications running a race track pattern from San Diego to Los Angeles about 100 miles off shore. I was so fascinated with flight operations that after finishing my work, I just sat in one of our planes watching the goings-on. I had the direction finding radio playing music on the Wolfman Jack radio show and watching everything that was happening. We were launching and recovering aircraft so pilots could get their qualifications done before going on cruise. It was just before dark when the last plane from my squadron came in for landing. The pilot had already taken several landings and it was the copilot's turn for his first landing on board ship. He came in at a good descent rate, but caught the arresting wire too far to port. Where a pilot lands and catches the arresting wire is critical. If he lands too far starboard the plane goes into the island superstructure and crashes the plane. If he lands too far to port, the wire sends him into the steel netting running horizontal along the side of the ship. The plane went to port and the wheels went into the net for a fast stop, but just like when you slam on your car brakes and the front end takes a dive, the plane did too. The tail section lifted up, causing the arresting wire to break free and the plane dipped the front end in the net. The engines were still whaling when the plane cracked open like an egg. Both halves fell into the Pacific. Of the 5 crewmen aboard only 2 made it out of the plane and were rescued. One was the experienced pilot and the other was the enlisted radar operator/tech. The 2 radar officers in the back and the copilot didn't make it. The 2 that did were rescued by the helicopter that was in the air for just that type of emergency.

      I was just a new guy, young and dumb, but I soon learned to to hang around on the flight deck more than necessary during recovery. There are many ways to get killed up there. I had to be there for launch, but not for recovery.

      That same qualification I was switched to night shift. The shop chief told us to never go up on deck at night without a flashlight, but on qualifications the lights were on, so I saw no need to lug around a flashlight. Our first arrival off the coast of Vietnam and our first launch I was up on deck without a flashlight because we were preparing for the first flight and it was just before sunset and darkness. I was in the plane making sure the radios and intercoms were working. By the time everything was ready for launch it was dark as dark could be. I left the plane and latched the side door and found myself in total darkness. Once in a war zone, the lights are out at night. The huge propellers were spinning and next to the plane was an old AD-5 with its props spinning leaving me no way to see where I was going to get to safety. I had to belly crawl across the flight deck. No one ever survives getting clacked in the head with a spinning prop. That was my last foray on a flight deck at night