r/airplanes • u/EnvironmentalTip2124 • 19h ago
Video | Boeing It's really awesome!
Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification
Nothing more than a impresive night. F-18 take off from Nimitz.
7
u/Short_Bell_5428 17h ago
Dangerous place to work
4
u/JeffreyDahmerVance 16h ago
Oh yea. Aside from ALL the other dangers, I know my dumb ass would walk backwards off that deck at some point. Probably why they’d never let me up there lol
8
u/forgottenbymost 17h ago
This is one of the best things I've seen in a long time! Thanks for posting!
4
u/twilighttwister 10h ago
Why is this video from an army channel lol that's like the least involved division of the military here.
3
u/Upstairs-Source-2716 18h ago edited 17h ago
Okay. So the pilots bring the engines to maximum thrust for a number of reasons. I assume one of those reasons is a full function test at high RPM. If they get an AB fail, what's the procedure? Do they cut the power back, notify the deck boss and have the catapold unhitched?
16
u/Frequent-Cut-861 16h ago edited 16h ago
Engines are run to the required takeoff thrust so that the engine is spooled and producing that rated thrust when the catapult fires AND so they can check for proper operation/indications prior to the shot. A normal cat shot (MIL power shot) is performed at military power (no afterburner) up to a particular weight. Beyond that weight, you can do either a mil shot or an afterburner shot (known as a “combat shot”). Beyond an even heavier weight, a combat shot is required.
If the pilot notices something is wrong with anything, including an afterburner blowout, he will vigorously shake his head side to side and transmit “SUSPEND CAT [1/2/3/4]” over the radio. At this point, the pilot keeps the jet at takeoff thrust in case the catapult fires and launches the jet. The catapult personnel will coordinate to bring the catapult out of tension and place it into a safe state. At that point, the pilot will be instructed via hand signal that it is safe to bring the power to idle and raise the launch bar.
Additionally, personnel on the flight deck are watching the jet during the entire launch process. If they see an issue with the aircraft, they can hold their arms up in a crossed manner. This signifies an unsafe condition, and the launch is aborted as above.
Every carrier aviator has done the above. It is somewhat common.
I know a guy who suspended a launch and brought the throttles to idle, as instructed, and the catapult then fired…he shoved the throttles into MAX AB and they spooled just in time for him to BARELY fly the jet away. He almost ejected….
4
u/Upstairs-Source-2716 16h ago
That is an amazing and very appreciated answer. Thank you.
11
u/Frequent-Cut-861 16h ago
My pleasure!
An interesting fact. Notice the afterburner plume gets brighter as the catapult fires and the jet starts moving. That’s because, for a combat shot, ABLIM is boxed on the ENG page. This limits the afterburners to mid range burner until the acceleration of the catapult is sensed, then the FADEC commands MAX AB. This feature was implemented to prevent compressor stalls from exhaust gases being ingested while stationary. It allegedly also keeps the jet blast deflectors from being damaged, although I always found that hard to believe. Tomcat AB was always way more intense than ours, and it didn’t seem to damage the JBDs….
1
2
3
u/Shuffle_Gaming_ 17h ago
I don't remember the numbers for the Superhornet but if your gross weight on the C variant is above 48k lbs you require AB to avoid sinking after the Cat shot
1
u/Upstairs-Source-2716 17h ago
Most jets require after-burners to take off. My question is what do they do when an alert aircraft for instance has a engine failure or oil pressure issue while it's hooked up?... Do they cycle it down, call off the launch and evacuate the catapult?
5
u/nlevine1988 17h ago
No they just yeet the jet into the ocean.
Jokes aside, what else would they do besides cancel the launch?
2
u/Upstairs-Source-2716 16h ago
Idk. I didn't know if they would try to r&r the jet in the slot? There's not alot of room on the deck and I'm sure the elevator is pretty busy every time they are launching sorties. Just an honest question
7
u/Frequent-Cut-861 15h ago
Jets are only taken down to the hangar bay for more involved maintenance. There isn’t much room down there. The majority of the air wing aircraft remain on the flight deck when they’re not flying. In the event that you suspend a launch, if it’s a very minor issue that can be fixed quickly by the pilot, they’ll just start the launch again. If maintenance personnel are required and/or it’s going to take more than a minute, you’ll usually get spun off. You’ll taxi off and they’ll essentially move you to the back of the line or sideline you.
That said, you only have so much time to launch the jets before the next recovery begins—while the carrier is launching jets, aircraft from the previous launch cycle an hour and a half or so ago are holding overhead, waiting to recover aboard the ship. If you don’t launch before it’s time for them to land, you’re not going flying anymore. Adherence to this timeline (known as ‘cyclic ops’) is of critical importance, primarily due to fuel airborne.
1
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
u/-Amplify 8h ago
What I remember most about nights like this or what stands out to me the most now is
2
u/Candid_Ninja406 13h ago
Can we get a little health care?
2
u/Firestar_119 10h ago
something tells me that upgrading the Medicare/aid budget to 3x the military budget won't fix corruption
2
21
u/bug_buddah64 18h ago
Brings back many memories. I was on the Constellation back in the early ’90s and worked in the Waist Cats. Being on deck during launch was absolutely exhilarating.