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The tea fields of Africa one day. A tasting room in London the next. You never know where Tea Master Barry W. Cooper will be tomorrow! Check here frequently to read Barry’s latest entry in his travel blog—or send us an email with “Barry’s Blog” in the subject line and we’ll alert you when a new entry is posted. Sign Up |
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The carrier deck is a VERY dangerous place. You have to look out for taxing planes, helicopters, bombs on the deck, rotor blades, prop blades, landing planes, grit from the jet blasts, it is a hive of activity and you have to keep your wits about you the whole time.
I took this from the Captains bridge. It is an F18 taking off and you can see the circular cloud of condensation as it goes to full power. The plane weight is about 44,000 lbs..it needs all its power to launch. It goes from 0 - 190 mph in 3 seconds via the catapult, plus full power from its engines.
Here is an F18 C landing. It is catching the 3rd wire which is perfect. Wires 1 and 2 mean you have come in too low, catching wire 4 means you landed too late! When a plane lands it goes to FULL power in case something goes wrong so that it can take off again immediately. It did not happen while we were on board, but we saw a number of landing attempts where the hook was down but they missed the wire. The air group was in the process of “re-qualifying” for the carrier so there were a lot of take offs and landings.
Here we are in the Captain’s Bridge overlooking flight operations. The crew were fantastic and I was amazed to learn that the average age of the men and women who work on the flight deck is 20 years old. The carrier has an air-group on board consisting of F18 E and C’s. These are fighter/bombers, some are single seaters some are dual.
Here is Sandy about to board the COD. You can see the rear facing seats and the lack of windows. I took the ear phones off to see how noisy it was and it was unbearably loud. You really need those earmuffs!
Here I am in my helmet, goggles, life preserver with its survival pack. This is a military aircraft. Comfort is not a consideration but who cares!
We are going to board the USS Abraham Lincoln CVN 72 a nuclear powered aircraft carrier.
Here is the plane that is going to take us out to the carrier. It is called a COD (carrier onboard Delivery) It has no windows and you face backwards! This limits the effects of the landing and take-off. For when you land you go from 135 to 0 mph in 2 seconds and when you take off you go from 0 to 145 in 3 seconds. AWESOME!
We are staying with a close friend, Rick (RAT) Willard. Rick is the other half of the RATCOOP Golf Trophy and he used to fly F4 Phantom jets off the USS Midway. In an AMAZING coincidence the Midway is now a museum and is docked right beneath the apartment we are staying in. So I took this picture of Rick’s old ship. Rick left the Navy after his 7 year commitment but his brother stayed in and did very well. In fact, he is a four star Admiral and is Commander in Chief for the Pacific Ocean. Hence our ability to get invited aboard the aircraft carrier. Proving yet again, that it is “not what you know, but who you know”
I am in San Diego! I am getting ready for the adventure of a lifetime. I have been invited to fly aboard (YES! FLY ABOARD!!) An aircraft carrier in the Pacific and spend a day and a night on board! It is a dream come true for me. I love planes and carriers and military history. This is going to be a blast.
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