How Twitter Rocked My World. By John Mason-Smith Part 2

This is Part 2 after having landed on the USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) . . . Click here to see Part 1
What happened next was almost as shocking. We come out of this controlled carrier crash landing, across the chaotic world of the flight deck, and then get guided into one of the nicest reception rooms I have ever seen. The parlor was designed by members of the State of Mississippi in honor of Senator John C. Stennis for whom the carrier is named. We are greeted by the PAO (Public Affairs Office) staff who relieved us of our COD life jackets and helmets and offers us a buffet of sandwiches, fruit and vegetable trays, cookies, ice tea, and ice water.

We are briefed on what to expect as we transition back onto the flight deck. Before we said yes to going on this adventure we were all pre-instructed that we had to be able to climb 10 flights of stairs three times. What I learned was it's really more like ladders than stairs. You still need to go forward both ways but they are steep and you have to watch your head going through the openings. Over the next 24 hours, I bet I climbed way more than 10 flights three times.

They let us know that we were about to go out into the middle of the flight deck for launch operations then toward the back for arrested landings. We wore the white vests of safety/medical/observers and our helmets identified us as DV newbies. Everybody on a flight deck is color-coded so the roles are understood.

It is way too loud to have to figure out who is doing what and all “talking” is done through hand signals. They spend a few minutes teaching us what we need to know. First off the people in white are observers and our DV helmets again tell everyone that we do not know what we are doing. Everyone was watching out for us. We were told that if we are pulled back by our life vest just go with the pull, they probably just saved your life. As we will be walking the person in front who will be our guide will point out hazards such as tie-down chains and other tripping points, headbanging areas, and so on. We were to pass the signal you see from the person in front down to the next person. There are lines on the flight deck you will never cross. They will show you those lines. It was not worth the perfect shot on your camera to get blown over the side of the aircraft carrier. You may be instructed to kneel down or get down. (We were.) Get down or you could get swept off! If you get swept to the deck, grab onto anything you can such as a star point and hold on until help arrives. Stay down until help arrives. Also, if you are not sure where you supposed to be, then kneel down and someone will come to get you.

We donned our white DV vests, put in foamies in our ears, then our flight deck helmets with built-in ear muffs, and sun screened googles.

They led us right out onto the flight deck and along a wide red line behind a flight deck worker called a shooter. We were in the middle of the flight deck and it was amazing. We watched the ballet of getting a plane inspected, hooked up to the steam catapult, flight checked and launched. Two minutes later another one went, and then another. The flight teams were launching two types of places, an EA/18 Growler (Electronic warfare) and the FA/18E Super Hornet.

The smell of the jet fuel, the steam of the catapult, the deafening roar of the big GE jet engines and the pace of the operation – it was mind-numbing! I was standing just behind the shooter in yellow. They have the same launch pattern each time and it goes on day and night. The first aircraft off the ship on the launch sequence is the two helicopters who will aid should the need for search and rescue come into play. Next, they send up an E-2 Hawkeye radar plane – turbo propped and similar to the Greyhound airframe. This aircraft will extent the radar of the fleet to help the flight ops understand all targets. I saw one on the deck and they had one of these receiving some maintenance in the hanger bay.

The next launch will be one of the FA/18 E’s outfitted with extra tanks for mid-air refueling. This bad boy is heavy and they use the afterburners to get it off the carrier. Following the tanker, the rest of that next rotation of fighter jets are launched. As soon as the launches are over, the carrier goes into recovery mode. Planes that have been out for quite a while have been lining up waiting their turn to land. They circle above the carrier in a 5-mile pattern in 1000 feet levels circling until they reach landing point. This is what we were doing when we landed on the carrier. We had a Jet aviator later tell us that he was in the rotation above us as we landed. Should they miss the landing they go around to the top and rejoin (or refuel if needed) for another pass.

In the next post in Part 3, I'll cover jet recovery from the flight deck!
Click here to view Part 3.