Drifting........Navy style
- Thread starter Bob Cofer
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
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jskinner30PII
Senior Member
Bob,
Were those pictures taken during a sea trial? Crash back testing?
Were those pictures taken during a sea trial? Crash back testing?
oscar
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Looks like it.
Old deckhand
Guru
As a plank holder on the JFK I recall those days. We sometimes felt the pressure placed on the crew of the Kennedy to uphold the name just a few short years following his death.
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Connie sailor here....and yup, do remember those days right after the Bremerton refit 82-84...fun times!
psneeld
Guru
The Connie was the only carrier I ever landed on. She was just coming out of dry dock in the Philadelphia Navy yard for a PR cruise on the river. Think it was the late 80s maybe mid 90s.
All I I remember is I had a SAR case and requested immediate launch, flight cleared me right into Philadelphia International airspace and they reamed me good.
All good though..felt honored to land on such a great and we'll honored ship....
Tale I heard was the E caused a disaster alert in Hawaii on the way home from Yankee Station, they pick it up on radar an thought a tidal wave was approaching. Also seem like they left station and four days later the Stars and Stripes had a photo of it going under the Golden Gate Bridge.
I spent the better part of a week filiming on the Constellation in the mid-80s. She was 1,000 miles out or so from the west coast so they flew us and our gear out and back on a COD. The flight out was interesting--- the COD had an all-girl crew. They couldn't serve on ships at the time but they could fly out and land on them.
The Constellation was the first carrier to be equipped to handle the F-18 which is why we were out there. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas were separate companies back then but we (Boeing) had just purchased a company in SoCal that made hydraulic actuating units that were used on the controls surfaces of all our airliners, the F-18, and helicopters. I was charged with producing a marketing film for the company and I wanted to get in-action shots of F-18s operating off carriers. The Navy agreed to fly two of us out to the ship from San Diego.
The F-18 apparently required a different catapult than the ones in use at the time so the new ones had just been fitted to the Constellation in the Bremerton Navy Yard. Part of the reason for this particular cruise was to conduct carrier qualifications for the Navy's F-18 pilots which is why the Navy suggested we do our filming at that time.
We were also "at war" with another carrier group which provided some lively moments when their planes would break through the Constellation's air defences, and we were shadowed in our wake the whole time by a Russian submarine. Sometimes when we were filming up on "Vulture's Row" the lookouts would point out the periscope to us.
Of course while we were on board we filmed everything that moved, not just the F-18s. It was impressive to be sitting on the deck with a film camera between the bow catapults as F-14s in afterburner launched past us a few feet away with their wings over our heads. These were older model F-14s and their afterburner flame extended aft almost as far as the plane was long. This was really impressive at night. Needless to say the resulting footage is pretty dramatic. At the end of our shoot they flew us back to San Diego on another COD.
A few times the ship would make some pretty tight turns to come into the wind. While the deck angle was nothing like that in the photos in this post it took a good lean to the outside of the turn. The deck boss or whatever he was called always announced it on the PA so everyone would be prepared.
The Constellation was the first carrier to be equipped to handle the F-18 which is why we were out there. Boeing and McDonnell-Douglas were separate companies back then but we (Boeing) had just purchased a company in SoCal that made hydraulic actuating units that were used on the controls surfaces of all our airliners, the F-18, and helicopters. I was charged with producing a marketing film for the company and I wanted to get in-action shots of F-18s operating off carriers. The Navy agreed to fly two of us out to the ship from San Diego.
The F-18 apparently required a different catapult than the ones in use at the time so the new ones had just been fitted to the Constellation in the Bremerton Navy Yard. Part of the reason for this particular cruise was to conduct carrier qualifications for the Navy's F-18 pilots which is why the Navy suggested we do our filming at that time.
We were also "at war" with another carrier group which provided some lively moments when their planes would break through the Constellation's air defences, and we were shadowed in our wake the whole time by a Russian submarine. Sometimes when we were filming up on "Vulture's Row" the lookouts would point out the periscope to us.
Of course while we were on board we filmed everything that moved, not just the F-18s. It was impressive to be sitting on the deck with a film camera between the bow catapults as F-14s in afterburner launched past us a few feet away with their wings over our heads. These were older model F-14s and their afterburner flame extended aft almost as far as the plane was long. This was really impressive at night. Needless to say the resulting footage is pretty dramatic. At the end of our shoot they flew us back to San Diego on another COD.
A few times the ship would make some pretty tight turns to come into the wind. While the deck angle was nothing like that in the photos in this post it took a good lean to the outside of the turn. The deck boss or whatever he was called always announced it on the PA so everyone would be prepared.
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When we were filming on the Constellation and were on top of the island over the bridge there was very little sensation of moving through the water. Sure, one could look down and see the water going aft but from that height it didn't seem all that fast.
Our escorts were mostly out of sight over the horizon but there was usually one or two of them within sight. It was impressive to look at them through the big mounted binoculars the lookouts had up there. The escorts were keeping pace with us and their bow waves arced up almost to their bulwarks and were a good third the length of the ship. That gave a pretty dramatic visual for how fast we were going on the carrier.
Crusty Chief
Guru
Oh, the things I could tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya. LOL
You know your getting old when you have served on Ships that are now a floating museum.
You know your getting old when you have served on Ships that are now a floating museum.
The Constellation, CV-64, despite being about the same size as the Navy's nuclear carriers, was not one. When we went up to the lookouts' level at night a favorite place to stand was leaning against the stack housing as it was nice and warm.
The ship was scrapped in July of this year. The experience of being aboard her for the week of filming will always be one of the highlights of my career in film/video production. Sad to think that she's gone.
The ship was scrapped in July of this year. The experience of being aboard her for the week of filming will always be one of the highlights of my career in film/video production. Sad to think that she's gone.
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Wanderin Star
Veteran Member
CC: At least yours are still afloat somewhere. My last, Agerholm DD 826, is a fishing reef somewhere off San Clemente, and my first, Canberra CAG 2, was sold to Gillette and the bell was donated to Australia.
dwhatty
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When I was a teenager, my Dad (who was an Episcopal minister) gave the blessing (or whatever the term is) at the commissioning of Constellation. I got to tag along and was wide eyed and impressed.
yo
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Was a plank holder on the constellation CVA 64 when she was commissioned at
Brooklyn shipyard in 1961. Seen her tip like that at sea trails and when we had a
man go overboard.
Brooklyn shipyard in 1961. Seen her tip like that at sea trails and when we had a
man go overboard.
Codger2
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I was in the ship's angles squadron (helicopters) on Enterprise on her maiden voyage & shake down to GTMO. Her speed was classified and when she commenced a tight turn we could stand upright on the deck with a hold down clamped on our britches and look down into the water. All planes were tied down (Hanger and flight deck) with a hurricane tie down. When she would heel in a turn, it was something to behold. The speeds mentioned here surprise me as her top speed was classified.
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Crusty Chief
Guru
Jeeeezzzzz, I'm thinking I'm not such an old fart after all! I wasent on the Connie for another ten years after you became a Plank Owner. Maybe I should modify my screen name to "Sorta Crusty Chief" .
Marin-you really missed your big chance while on the Connie. You should have talked into taking you up. You cannot believe what being launched from a carrier is like. I flew backseat F-4Js in the USMC out of Cherry Point, NC. We had an annual rotation cruise with the Fleet, usually on the USS Enterprise. An F-4J has a takeoff weight of anywhere from about 52,000 to 58,000 lbs depending on armor and fuel load. Our aircraft had GE J79-10 engines at about 18,500 lbs thrust each, about 26,000 lbs each in full afterburner. Liftoff speed for the F-4J is approximately 190 knots, although coming off the front of the carrier, you are usually at about 185. The catapault accelerates a 57,000 lb aircraft from 0 to over 180 knots over about 600 feet and 3.3 seconds. It is a kick in the ass that you never forget. It is really cool to go below decks and see the cat-they are steam powered, one massive piston. I don't know how big, but imagine the mass needed to get that aircraft moving that fast that quickly. It is impressive.
True Catapault Story-around 1971, the USMC and the USAF had an exchange program where the AF would send a squadron of F-4s in to Cherry Point to become carrier qualified. We had an auxiliary airfield at Cherry Point, Bogue Field, that had a cat and arresting gear. The AF had to fly our aircraft as the AF F-4s had a weaker undercarriage than the Navy/Marine ones. The AF pilots were used to long, slow, shallow glide paths. Navy pilots bring the aircraft in and from about 75 feet or so just slam the plane to the deck, that's how you catch the arresting gear. Well, when we flew final carrier quals, we flew out to the old FDR, a WWII carrier. The AF guys could not believe how small an 800 foot ship looks from 5,000 feet! But we get everybody landed and were scheduled for launch the next morning. The first thing you get told on the cat is "Head back against the headrest, heels back against the base of the seat, and hang on to something". Well the old Martin-Baker-5 ejection seats we had had three means of ejecting, a face curtain, a lever on the right almost at the floor, and a big "D" ring between your knees. Well, the first AF pilot that launched, his backseat guy held on the the D Ring. With that accerlation his hands pulled up and he ejected himself right over the bow of the FDR! We always had two choppers in the air during operations, so they get to him pretty quickly. And fortunately for him, unhurt. A lot of ejections cause back and neck compression injuries. At the end the AF stay, at a dinner in the O Club, our CO gave him a "Premature Ejaculation" Award!
True Catapault Story-around 1971, the USMC and the USAF had an exchange program where the AF would send a squadron of F-4s in to Cherry Point to become carrier qualified. We had an auxiliary airfield at Cherry Point, Bogue Field, that had a cat and arresting gear. The AF had to fly our aircraft as the AF F-4s had a weaker undercarriage than the Navy/Marine ones. The AF pilots were used to long, slow, shallow glide paths. Navy pilots bring the aircraft in and from about 75 feet or so just slam the plane to the deck, that's how you catch the arresting gear. Well, when we flew final carrier quals, we flew out to the old FDR, a WWII carrier. The AF guys could not believe how small an 800 foot ship looks from 5,000 feet! But we get everybody landed and were scheduled for launch the next morning. The first thing you get told on the cat is "Head back against the headrest, heels back against the base of the seat, and hang on to something". Well the old Martin-Baker-5 ejection seats we had had three means of ejecting, a face curtain, a lever on the right almost at the floor, and a big "D" ring between your knees. Well, the first AF pilot that launched, his backseat guy held on the the D Ring. With that accerlation his hands pulled up and he ejected himself right over the bow of the FDR! We always had two choppers in the air during operations, so they get to him pretty quickly. And fortunately for him, unhurt. A lot of ejections cause back and neck compression injuries. At the end the AF stay, at a dinner in the O Club, our CO gave him a "Premature Ejaculation" Award!
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We landed on the cables when we arrived and were launched off the starboard bow catapult when we went back to San Diego at the end of our week.
We had the complete run of the ship while we were on board so checked out the operation of the catapult and arresting gear systems while we were there. I found the arresting gear system more impressive (and noisy) than the catapult system.
We had the complete run of the ship while we were on board so checked out the operation of the catapult and arresting gear systems while we were there. I found the arresting gear system more impressive (and noisy) than the catapult system.
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go-planing
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