The Hindu : National : A shaky journey to the USS Nimitz

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jul 02, 2007
ePaper

National

National

A shaky journey to the USS Nimitz

R.K. Radhakrishnan

CHENNAI: Flight PW-20 was perhaps the most uncomfortable experience for one who has never been on board the boxer-nosed, twin-engine, noisy, cargo aircraft of the US Navy Greyhounds (C-2A). One has to wear a horseshoe-shaped life jacket, helmet, ear-plugs, and goggles in the 28-seater.

Then comes the next surprise: you do not sit facing the pilot; your seat faces the rear of the aircraft. Safety measures, we were told. The seat belts resemble those in a high-gravity flight. There are no windows.

The journey was to last just over half hour and the flight ticket said: From: MAA (Chennai). To: Nimitz. The congestion at the Chennai airport made the flight wait for a good part of the hour before take off.

Just over half an hour after takeoff, we were preparing to touch down. We had been warned by the diplomats attached to the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, Ragini Gupta and Rohit Nepali, that the touchdown would be anything but pleasant.

But nothing prepared us for what happened: the aircraft went from over 100 miles an hour to zero in under three seconds. It took most of us a few minutes to compose ourselves. We were on the 4.5 acre flight deck for a short while before being ushered in for tea and biscuits and a press conference.

Later on, when we were back again on the deck; this time wearing a different set of goggles, helmets, vests and full-sleeve t-shirt. We were shown how aircraft that land at high speeds stop like ours did. The aircraft’s tailhook has to catch one of the four arresting wires (cross-deck pendants) stretched across the deck. These wires are about 10 yards apart, four inches off the deck and connected to the arresting engines, which are large hydraulic-mechanical devices that pay out the arresting wires under tension and absorb the momentum of the aircraft. As the aircraft land at full power, the arresting gear stops them within 300 feet.

Back on the flight deck of the 23-storey-high Nimitz, we were aware that the ship was moving rather fast, powered by two nuclear plants that drive the four main engines.

The demonstration of launching aircraft using the catapult was a riveting experience. The catapults propel the heaviest aircraft from the deck at speeds in excess of 170 miles per hour and these speeds are reached from standstill in less than three seconds. Aircraft are launched in a 310-foot catapult stroke, an equivalent land-based takeoff would require nearly 6000 feet of runway.

The theory sounds good. The experience was scary. Back in the aircraft, we told that we would be thrown forward as the aircraft took off. But no amount of imagination prepared us for what happened. Forty-five minutes later we were glad that we were back on terra firma.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National