# Trapping On a Pitching Carrier Deck at Night - OT/NT



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Got this email from a friend who's a former Naval Aviator. Can you say, "pucker factor?"









*This is very unnerving, landing with deck pitching 30 feet, at night, low on fuel. Incredible. You will never forget viewing this. I have seen a lot of aviation emails but the two videos below are undoubtedly the best. Turn on your sound and go full screen. I guarantee this will definitely hold your attention. 

These videos show the difference between Naval Aviation and any other kind. The links below are two outstanding videos about F-18 carrier operations aboard the USS Nimitz during weather that causes a severely pitching deck, which you can see in the videos. It's more dangerous than most combat missions and the tension in the pilots and crew is very apparent. Watch Part 1 first. Great videos 

LANDING TERROR! 

Carrier - Landing on a Pitching Deck Pt. 1
** 
Carrier - Landing on a Pitching Deck Pt. 2 *


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

These light weight, no b**ls, sit to pea, 10 mile runways, panty waste Air Force clowns ain't got nothing on hardcore, steely eyed, combat focused Naval and Marine Aviators. "I have to have my crew rest time" "I won't fly and you can't make me" "Oh, it's too dark at night" and all the other wimpy Air Force excuses.


GO ARMY!! (Beat Navy)

Thanks Dwight.


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

I have an old friend who was a recovery helo pilot off carriers in Vietnam. He told many stories about landing on pitching decks at night. He will really appreciate seeing these. 

I'll take stomping through the paddies any day than doing this! These people are something else. Greatest military on the planet! God Bless 'em. 

Bob,

U.S. Army 9th INF DIV Mekong Delta 1966-67

Go Army!


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome.... Just AWESOME. Sure glad they're on our side...


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

I have gotten fairly proficient at landing on a carrier deck in MS Flight Simulator. 

The big differnece, if I hit the rear of the carrier I just press reset and try it again, if these guys do this, they have no reset button.


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## sheepdog (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Dwight! In the 90's I worked with and then for a Navy pilot. He was flying A4 Skyhawks in Nam in the early years. Knew John McCain but they flew off different carriers. 

He shared a story with me along the same lines. He drew the duty of flying the A4 fuel tanker in circles around the carrier for anyone needing more fuel. The seas were not as rough as in these videos but rough. One of the A4 pilots had a very close call with a SAM and was shook up upon return..... Missed the wires two times and needed more fuel as the pilot continued to freak out. Tried several more times to land, missed or kept going around on his own without ever touching down. More fuel. Now my friend is getting low on fuel and he is not liking it. They told the first pilot he had to land it. He went in hard. Broke something and went over the side. The plane landed upside down in the water and he pulled the ejection seat lever. Ejection seats are not meant to be fired under water. Think about the pressures... How deep does it fire you? He did not make it.


Meanwhile my friend has enough fuel for one pass and a ditch. He made it but sweated through the flight suit.


He did two tours off the Nam coast and was positive a SAM had him on the second tour. They invited him to try out for the Blue Angels. It required a re-up and another trip to Nam. He declined although flattered.... That SAM had been too close.


Craig


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Now add rain, and the flight crews get to spend all night stitching in new leather seat covers after the old ones werent there after the plane landed :O


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## hawkfanjohn (Nov 17, 2009)

remember being off the coast of Thialand and the mock war was called off because of weather~ our guys decided it was a good time to get some nighttime carrier quals in cause they hadn't had time because of high flight schedule~ only cost us one pilot!


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

*Tks for the videos. You can really get in to the tence moments on each landing at night.. I wached them twice..







*


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Wow! They deserve every dollarl we pay 'em. Talk about cahones...


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## Mike O (Jan 2, 2008)

I would think any bad guys watching this would think twice about tangling with Naval Air. 

Mike


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow.

And to think I once wanted to do that.


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## grandpopswalt (Dec 27, 2007)

That was great! Thanks for sharing.

I was ship's company on the USS America CVA66 in the late 60"s. I spent a lot of my time in the area where takeoffs and landings are coordinated and I can vouch for how insanely tense that whole procedure can be. What surprised me about these videos is that things don't seem to have changed very much in the last 40 years. I really thought that in 2010 this procedure would be much more automated. I remember that we were working on automatic landing systems in 1966-67. We actually had a working prototype aboard made by Bell Aero Systems. I witnessed numerous hands-off landings that were picture perfect. As a matter fact they had to keep moving the landing spot at the land based runway where the original system was developed (Pax River, MD.) because the planes landed in the same place so often that the runway was starting to fatigue (or so the story goes).


To this day I'm in awe of the pilots who have the guts to do this sort of thing routinely. But to land on a pitching carrier deck at night at 140-160 MPH takes superhuman skill and courage. I think it's even more courageous than flying missions. If you get shot down or hit it's pretty much out of your hands, but when you're landing, if you live or die is entirely on you. 


Thanks again.

Walt


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Seems to me, from watching it, they figured out to come in just a hair low, and go 'round if the ship didn't drop for them to land.

I think I'll stick to my office chair


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## markoles (Jan 2, 2008)

Awesome video. Thanks for posting.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice... Thanks Dwight.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

I was on the USS Oriskany in the Pacific off the Phillippines during some rough weather.

We had one plane misjudge his landing and smashed into rounddown at the rear of the ship. I huge ball of flames erupted and the airplane was of course destroyed. The flight deck was covered in flames and the pilot ended up in the water. There were a bunch of planes still needing to land. In less than 5 minutes the debris of that plane was removed from the flight deck and planes began to land again. It was an awesome sight. The pilot survived the experience and the remainder of the planes landed without incident.

Another time a pilot broke his landing gear after a hard landing but he had enough energy to take off again. They landed the other planes while his pilot circled the carrier. Then they strung a net across the flight deck and this guy flew into the net about 10 feet off the deck. The net stopped him but tore the wings off his jet. Once again, the pilot survived.

Then there was the time a plane came in and hit the island. There was a ball of flame the entire length of the flight deck after that one. Again, they quickly shoved all the debris off the side of the ship and began recovering the remaining planes. This pilot brok his wrist when he ejected and landed in the water.

Those pilots are a bunch of brave men. I have great respect for all of them.

But the crew working on the flight deck face just as many dangers as the aviators.

John


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Hats off to the Guys and Gals who do this for a living, you do need skills to pull that off day in and day out.............














I bow to them.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Very impressive video, that. 

More impressive servicemen.


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## Dave F (Jan 2, 2008)

Grumble...


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Great Videos.


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

We used to mark targets for Marine FA18 close air strikes. All they ever wanted to know was the target location and the time on target. We would put white phosphorous on the target about 15 seconds before arrival. They would be there +/- 3 seconds. They would drop, shoot or fire off everything in the flight. What a fireworks show. They NEVER miss.

Air Force close air -- geez. The paperwork, the coordination, the airspace restriction, the lead time. It's not like they show on TV. The Marines would fly right thru all that crap, they didn't care. They were all like "The Great Santini"


I have been on the Enterprise (CVN65). The flight deck gets really small when you actually stand on it. And the hanger deck -- talk about guys that know how to drive a stick shift.

Gary: I took basic training with the 9th after they got back from Vietnam. A proud outfit, sadly gone.


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Great videos!

As a former active duty Marine grunt and on the receiving end of the close in air support, all I can say is THANK YOU to the U.S. Naval and/or Marine airdales, they saved my butt many times during my two tours in Nam. When they say 'close in support' they mean it, most of the time we could see the pilot in the cockpit as he went by.


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