211121 Sentinel, Spinning Propellers

Flight deck hazards

I was looking at some of my navy aircraft pictures this morning and decided I was going to write about an experience I had 55 years ago while working on the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier flight deck and the possible hazards involved. The picture below shows an old AD-1 propeller attack aircraft. The picture doesn't show how large those props really are. Tip to tip the props are about 10 feet and when spinning at takeoff the prop is nearly invisible.

This next picture shows an E-2A radar plane with twin propellers, also practically invisible when spinning. My first night on the flight deck off the coast of Vietnam I was inside the E-2 making sure all the radio and navigation gear was working before departing the plane so it could launch. It was right at sunset when I went into the plane, but at sea when the sun sets it gets pitch black in a very short time. There was also an AD-1 next to the plane with its props spinning. There I was stepping out of the plane and closing the entry door in the dark of night and no flashlight. I could hear the roar of those props, but could not see a thing in the dark. The shop chief had told us not to go up on deck without a flashlight at night, but it wasn't night when I went up there. I ended up belly crawling all the way across the 108 foot wide deck until I got near to the island on the ship. I never made that mistake again.

I found a picture today of an old WW-2 aircraft carrier with its planes on deck, their propellors spinning getting ready to launch. Where I had 3 sets of props to worry about, those guys on the flight decks in WW-2 had 50 or more all spinning at one time and I wonder how many men were killed by spinning props in the war. Those guys had one advantage; they did not do flight operations at night.