For more carrier videos see our
Carrier Cat Shots and Traps pages.
It is universally agreed that traps (landings) on a pitching carrier deck at
night are the most harrowing, scary, and gut-wrenching things a Naval Aviator can
do. Watch and listen for the comment from the pilot drinking coffee after landing while his
hands are still shaking: “I was in close and they’re saying little power and I
saw the back of the [expletive] ship ABOVE ME … I thought I am about to smash into
the back of the ship and go into a million pieces.”
Carrier traps at night on a pitching deck — 10-minute video.
Click here for Carrier Traps during daylight onto a Pitching Deck
“Don’t shoot me ‘till the bow comes up.” The flight deck on a
Midway or Essex is about 50 feet above the water line. When the bow scoops up water so deep
that when it rolls down the flight deck and is still 20 feet deep when it passes the island,
you can say you have sailed in some rough waters. Been there done that.
— Gene
At the bottom of this page you
can see a cat team preparing to launch an F-3H Demon with water from heavy seas washing over the deck.
