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On Apr. 19, 2005, USS America left Philadelphia under tow on its final mission. America was towed off the east coast where the ship was finally disposed of during a classified SinkEx.

USS America was the third Kitty Hawk – class aircraft carrier and the third ship in the US Navy to bear the name. Initially commissioned as an attack aircraft carrier CVA 66, she was redesignated as a multi-purpose aircraft carrier CV 66 on Jun. 30, 1975. Decommissioned on Aug. 9, 1996, the USS America spend the following years at the Naval Inactive Ships Facility in Philadelphia.

On Apr. 19, 2005, the carrier left Philadelphia under tow on its final mission. America was towed off the east coast where the ship was finally disposed of during a classified SinkEx.

The USS America is the only supercarrier ever sunk, either on purpose or in combat. Blake Horner, Mechanical Engineer, explains why on Quora “It took four weeks and they ended up having to scuttle her from on board due to her not sinking. She is not only far larger than WWII battleships, but she is also a lot tougher. While she does not have the heavy armor the battleships of yore had, she does have a double-layered hull, meaning weapons have to push through alternating layers of steel and empty pockets to reach her internals.

“On top of that, her internal compartmentalization was far better than that of battleships. She is so large, there are so many more rooms that must be filled in order to make her sink than that of a battleship.

“Additionally, thanks to modern technology, most bombs, torpedoes, and missiles actually have smaller warheads than what they used against WWII vessels. And in the process of the tests, they were actually using controlled explosives, not actual weapons.

“The whole point of the tests was to make future carriers more survivable, as well as see how warships reacted to underwater explosion and damage. Clearly, after taking a beating for four weeks, they can survive a LOT due to just their sheer bulk. But at the same time, the tests were not meant to truly sink her immediately. Thus, there was non“shoot to kill” mindset of the naval officers conducting the test, versus the whole point of attacking enemy battleships being to sink them.

“America lasted so much longer because A) they were not trying to sink her immediately (though they did end up having to board her to make her sink) and B) her sheer bulk made it a lot harder to sink by being able to absorb damage better than battleships.”

America was planned to be sold for scrapping. However, she was chosen to be a live-fire test and evaluation platform in 2005, to aid the design of future aircraft carriers. There was some objection to a ship being named after the U.S. being deliberately sunk at sea, and a committee of her former crew members and other supporters attempted to save the ship for use as a museum ship. Their efforts were ultimately unsuccessful. In a letter to them, then-Vice Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John B. Nathman explained:

“America will make one final and vital contribution to our national defense, this time as a live-fire test and evaluation platform. America’s legacy will serve as a footprint in the design of future carriers — ships that will protect the sons, daughters, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of American veterans. We will conduct a variety of comprehensive tests above and below the waterline collecting data for use by naval architects and engineers in creating the nation’s future carrier fleet. It is essential we make those ships as highly survivable as possible. When that mission is complete, America will slip quietly beneath the sea. I know America has a very special place in your hearts, not only for the name but also for your service aboard her. I ask that you understand why we selected this ship for this one last crucial mission and make note of the critical nature of her final service.”

Horner concludes:

“Economically, it was the smallest loss to the original cost ratio versus any of the Nimitz class, or even its sister ships of the Kitty Hawk class (USS America never really went through the Navy’s Carrier Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) and therefore, the ship was in bad shape during its last years of service. In the early 1990s, America even had one of her flight deck elevators fall with an S-3B aircraft and several blueshirts on it. Additionally, the carrier suffered steam and fuel leaks and – also in the early 1990s, returning home from deployment – the carrier cut through a Hurricane destroying large parts of the flight deck catwalks.). America was conventionally powered, meaning they did not have to worry about the nuclear radiation of a Nimitz class. It was of similar size and design to the Nimitz so they could learn just as much as they would from sinking one of those in preparation for the Ford class. There were no plans for using her as a potential reactivation ship (one that could come back to service) or as a museum, as she was in very bad condition in comparison to her sisters. It resulted that the potential benefits far outweighed the loss, as the lessons learned from sinking her would allow the Navy to perfect the Gerald R. Ford class, which was under development. It was just a logical decision in allowing the vessel to serve in one last capacity, without having to pay for tearing her apart or letting her sit as a museum. And hopefully, it worked.”

Photo by Photographer’s Mate 2nd Class Michael Sandberg / U.S. Navy

‘I think the Bronze, Silver, and Gold for difficult aircraft to land has to go to Vought aircraft,’ David Tussey, former US Naval Aviator

Landing on the flight deck of an aircraft carrier is probably the most difficult thing a US Navy pilot will ever do. The flight deck only has about 500 feet (~150 meters) of runway space for landing planes, which isn’t nearly enough for the heavy, high-speed jets on U.S.ncarriers.

Each aircraft is equipped with a tailhook to land on the flight deck. The naval aviator‘s goal is to snag the tailhook on one of four arresting wires, sturdy cables woven from high-tensile steel wire.

There are four parallel arresting wires, spaced about 50 feet (15 meters) apart, to expand the target area for the pilot. Pilots are aiming for the third wire, as it’s the safest and most effective target.

But which US Navy jet is the most difficult or the easiest to land on the Aircraft Carrier?

‘I think the Bronze, Silver, and Gold for difficult aircraft to land has to go to Vought aircraft,’ David Tussey, former US Naval Aviator explains on Quora.

‘First up, the F7U Cutlass. It was just so poorly designed and had such terrible engines, that they were damn near impossible to land on a carrier. The accident and fatality rate was horrible. Look at the angle the airplane had to assume to land. Just a terrible (and frequently tragic) design. Earned the nickname The Ensign Killer.

‘In more modern times, the F-8 Crusader had a similar issue (also made by Vought). The angle of attack required to slow the aircraft for carrier approach speeds was so extreme that in order to prevent ramp strikes, the aircraft had to incorporate a movable wing to use during landings and takeoffs. (Actually, the fuselage moved, not the wing, but that’s semantics.) The Crusader is somewhat redeemed by having a reputation as a great fighter aircraft to fly. Still, very challenging to bring aboard the boat, and the subject of some horrific ramp strikes.’

‘And to complete the Vought triumvirate, a derivative of the Crusader, the A-7 Corsair, while better, was also very challenging to land on the carrier. (This was the aircraft that I flew for 800+ carrier landings.) The Corsair suffered from a slow response engine as well as a fast approach speed, so deviations during the approach were very difficult to manage. At least the wing didn’t move up and down.

‘Here’s me having a hard landing on a badly pitching deck onboard USS Midway. If you look closely, you can see the starboard wheel coming apart. Clearly, a controlled crash as were many A-7 Landings. Earned a trip to the bridge on this one.

‘The A-7 Corsair was, however, much loved by the Navy for its mission flexibility and effectiveness. So much of its terrible landing traits were forgiven.’

Tussey concludes:

‘I would propose that the easiest aircraft to land on the carrier, is the current F/A-18 Super Hornet. The Rhino not only has great aerodynamics, but also a super responsive engine, coupled with the amazing Maritime Augmented Guidance with Integrated Controls for Carrier Approach and Recovery Precision Enabling Technologies  (MAGIC CARPET. The premise of this technology The premise of MAGIC CARPET is simple – rather than worry about adjusting roll, yaw, and pitch, adding and reducing power, and predicting how the plane’s course will intersect with the moving ship’s, the pilot can more directly and simply control flight path) greatly reduces pilot workload. (Finally!) Oh, the magic of digital flight controls. Just a superbly designed aircraft. Solid as a rock coming aboard.’

Photo Credit: David Tussey and Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Christopher B. Long / U.S. Navy

USS Gerald R. Ford will be the only carrier regularly available to provide carrier qualifications to pilots who require them on the east coast this year.

The interesting picture in this post features an F/A-18E Super Hornet, attached to “Blue Blasters” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 34, landing aboard USS Gerald R. Ford’s (CVN 78) flight deck marking the 1,000th recovery of a fixed wing aircraft using Ford’s Advanced Arresting Gear (AAG) Mar. 19, 2020 at 5:13 p.m.

As told by Petty Officer 2nd Class Ryan Seelbach, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), in the article 1000th Aircraft Arrestment, Launch on Ford, minutes later, the crew celebrated a second milestone launching an F/A-18E Super Hornet attached to “Warhawks” of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 97 from Ford’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) catapults for the 1,000th time.

With 1,000 launches and recoveries complete, Ford continued flight operations and the following day obtained its Flight Deck Certification (FDC) and Carrier Air Traffic Control Center (CATCC) Certification last week.

This will allow the carrier to provide carrier qualifications to pilots who require them. In fact, the ship will be the only carrier regularly available for this role on the east coast this year.

In order to certify Ford’s flight deck and carrier air traffic control center, the ship was required to complete a Precision Approach Landing Systems (PALS) certification, and conduct two consecutive days of flight operations with 50 day traps on day one, followed by 70 day traps and 40 night traps on day two. As explained by Petty Officer 1st Class Gary Prill, USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78), in the article Ready for the Fleet: Ford Completes Flight Deck and Carrier Air Traffic Control Center Certifications, together, the crews of Ford and CVW 8 exceeded those minimum requirements.

Over a two-day period, F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets from four squadrons assigned to CVW 8 conducted 123 day, and 42 night cats and traps aboard Ford to reach this milestone in Ford’s operational readiness.

These significant milestones in the ships’ history began on Jul. 28, 2017 with Ford’s first fixed wing recovery and launch using its first-in-class AAG and EMALS technologies.

Boasting the US Navy’s first major design investment in aircraft carriers since the 1960s, Ford’s AAG and EMALs support greater launch and recovery energy requirements of future air wings, increasing the safety margin over legacy launch and arresting gear found on Nimitz-class carriers.

U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Gary Prill

If the pilot’s happy with the airplane’s performance, he or she will salute – that’s the signal that “we’re good to go.” Then the shooter – the catapult officer – will do the last check to make sure everyone’s clear, then will kneel down, touch the deck and point forward, sometimes dramatically for fun.

The following cool video features the famed scene from Top Gun movie where Maverick is launched on Alert 5 after Hollywood has been hit during the final dogfight of the film.

At 0:29 in the video Maverick salutes the catapult officer or “shooter” before launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier.

Dave Barak, former S-3 Viking sensor operator (SENSO) in the US Navy, gives a basic but very interesting description of things during a cat shot from the flight deck of a US Navy flattop on Quora.

‘The person under the airplane watches as the airplane slowly taxis forward until the nose tow launch bar drops down to the deck in front of the catapult shuttle. At that point, he or she signals the deck edge operator to “tension the cat” (which isn’t technically an accurate term, but it’s what’s used). The shuttle slides forward a few inches, taking up any slack between it and the nose tow launch bar. At that point, the person under the airplane quickly checks to make sure everything looks good, then runs out with a thumbs up (hopefully) to signify all is well.

‘At that point, the pilot gets the signal to advance the throttles to whatever setting is needed for the launch. He or she “wipes out the controls,” moving the ailerons, rudder(s), and elevators*. The final checkers near the rear of the airplane look at all that and raise their thumbs if everything’s good. While that’s happening the pilot is checking the crucial instruments – engines for one. At that point, if the pilot’s happy with the airplane’s performance, he or she will salute – that’s the signal that “we’re good to go.” Then the shooter – the catapult officer – will do the last check to make sure everyone’s clear, then will kneel down, touch the deck and point forward, sometimes dramatically for fun. At that point, the deck edge operator does a quick check to make sure everyone’s clear, then presses the launch button. Sometimes – I think more often now than in my day – the shooter is in the “bubble,” an armored glass enclosure at flight deck level, and that’s where the catapult is fired from.’

Taken from the cockpit of a US Navy F/A-18E the following clip (taken from the YouTube channel of The Fighter Pilot Podcast) shows the Super Hornet being launched from catapult 3 of USS George Washington (CVN-73). At 2:01 in the clip, the Naval Aviator salutes the shooter before launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier.

Barak concludes

‘However, at night the process is slightly different. Because the pilot’s salute can’t be seen, he or she will switch on the airplane’s strobe lights to signify everything’s good.’

This video confirms Barak’s statement: in fact at 0:23 in the footage the F/A-18E Super Hornet featured in the clip switches on its strobe lights before launching from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71).

*These days, ailerons, rudders, and elevators often do double duty. For instance, the elevators at the rear of the airplane may move at different rates and by different amounts, performing some of the functions of the ailerons. I’m being a bit basic on the description.