How Twitter Rocked My World. By John Mason-Smith Part 3

This is part 3 of a series on my adventure as a Distinguished visitor on board the Aircraft Carrier John C. Stennis (CVN 74) Click here to see Part 2.
For the recovery cycle, we moved toward the stern of the ship near the catch cables. There were four cables stretched out across the deck. The goal of each jet is to catch the third wire. On the back of each plane is a device called the tailhook. Having now landed on a carrier, I am an official “Tailhooker”! While we were there we watched several jets catch the third cable, some caught the second, one the fourth and two that missed completely. The aircraft come in at takeoff speed so that if they miss the cable with the tailhook, they can go around and try again.

A Miss!

The cable lays tight across the deck with springs to lift up the center for the catch. We were situated right at the end of catch cable number three on the flight deck. It was a “little” intense.

The planes land every two minutes. In between, they have to move the previous plane off the flight deck and to the side. That is why they launch first to make room for the jets coming in behind them. The calm looking person watching us is an observer who is keeping us from being killed during this shot.

This being a Twitter embark, of course I need to capture a selfie!

The PAO's captured a few team photos of the DV's on the flight deck. I have permission to share these.

Having experienced flight deck level viewing, they moved us back inside to see how the USS John C. Stennis operates. Once inside we slipped out of the flight deck gear and made our way across and up to the Flight Deck Control room. Flight Deck Control - on the ship known as "Pre-Fly" was one of the rooms we were asked not to photograph any screens. The group in this room set the agenda and order for each revolution of launches and catches. In the center of the room was a table they called the Ouija board with plastic airplanes. They use this board to keep up with every single aircraft on the deck or in the hangar bay. They know who's going first, who needs to jump ahead of someone, and the timing of each launch.

From this room, we moved to the Bridge of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). The Admiral was called away from the ship for a meeting the weekend we were on board and in command was Executive Officer (XO), Captain Scott P. Miller. Captain Miller is on his fourth Carrier with the Stennis. He was super cordial and he even let me sit in the chair and give orders that everyone ignored. The bridge is the area where the ship is steered. It is high over the deck and has a fantastic view of the entire flight deck. Up with Captain Miller are some of the brightest sailors in the Navy – many only 18-21 years old. The sailor steering the ship could not have been out of high school for more than six months and she was teaching others around her on the process.

Look for Part 4 by clicking here.