Aircraft Carrier Catapult of a Jet Fighter

[patemansmith1]

f-14 tomcat?

[profusions]

Corsairkied1 - thanks for your insight. I was amazed at the quick recovery time of my eyeballs after launch or landing. But i was merely a passenger on the COD. Night carrier landings, even in this jaded tech arena, are simply marvelous and amazing to watch. Nothing like it in civilian life; not even close.

[FSX39]

0 - 165 mph in 2 secs... :P

[RobertWLeung]

Wait... How is that being "catapulted"? It's just using the ship as a runway to take off

[profusions]

Under the front wheel there is an attachment to a steam-operated catipult which drags the airplane down the runway very quickly. In that way it throws the aircraft off the flight deck now under its own power.

[CorsairKid1]

@profusions I flew A-7's from the carriers Kennedy and Ike. Empty weight: 21,500 lbs. Usual cat weight: with 12,200 lbs of gas, 5,000 lbs of bombs, 2 sidewinders, 300 rds 20 mm, about 39,000 lbs. (Max cat. weight was 42K). Zero to 180 mph (about) in 200 ft. Accel is phenomenal. We'd get "tunnel vision" from accel draining blood from front of eyeballs. Stops at end of cat shot, but scary, especially at night. Like looking at the world through a toilet paper tube. Damned scary. Fred

[aaronCapricorn]

.... .. ... lol .. physics works in favor of the Navy, the world's greatest navy.

[failexpress]

I think that the problem is that the Navy is trying to get one aircraft do do everything. The tomcat was an excellent fighter, but probably lacked in ground support features. The F-18 probably is better at ground attack than the F-14

[holdmydill]

where have u been? thats why the Navy call it the F/A-18 Superhornet

[dimitri02]

too bad the Tomcats are gone. now the gay hornets will take over eveything. it took over the Tomcat,p retty soon they'll take over the Prowler. And the Vikings will be gone soon too. hornets are for homos, Tomcats by choice!

[AmericanAirlinesRule]

Hey! There is nothing wrong with the F/A-18 Hornets you loser.

[dimitri02]

if you are truly are Tomcat lover, then you will see why we like Tomcats better. you clearly dont like them so you are the loser and you can shut the fuck up

[camwizardoz]

yea, i fell in love with this plane wen i was growing up and i was really sad when i learned that they were retiring it. its a shame, but at least it served a great combat record!

[jaidrofire]

this was my first toy plane :P

[walkofdoom]

tomcats are out of date now lol

[jaidrofire]

y dont they just upgrade them?

[SeymourButtz99]

Dimitri has a point, it was politics and "consolidation" that eliminated the F14 in favor of the

F18 platform which has less range, carries less ordinance, less power and less in every respect except popularity.

The 25+ year old radar system on the F14 is still superior to newer systems dependent on real time links with an AWACS / Hawkeye and can operate independently.

Shelving the 14 will remain one of the most baffling decisions in aviation history.

[dimitri02]

Thanks dude.....I've been stating that reason on most Tomcat videos!

[SuperHornetTV]

@dimitri02 The vikings did not get replaced by the F/A-18 Hornet in anyway. It was replaced by the SH-60 Seahawk for Anti-submarine warfare and the P-3 Orion which is land based. And for the prowler...the EA-18G will be better than the Prowler in pretty much, every way. It's faster, range is longer, it can carry self-air defense, and it carries less crew. So if the Air Force has a 2 seater EA aircraft, why can't the Navy?

[b75s]

@SuperHornetTV Actually the P-3 orion will be replace by the P-8A Poseidon, and all it is is a Boeing 737 with missiles on it, but eveyrthing else you said was right.

BTW- not a navy pilot, just a fan of the USnavy planes like you.

[jayjaykewl727]

my friend said it is slow i was like lmfao because it is fast as hell and nto to mention that is 100 ton aircraft thre buddy and if you were to get in a shopping cart attacthed top it you would fly like 500 feet

[buntcakemadness]

try they could launch a car over 3 miles.....

[mightycowhero]

love that squat

[favioalex]

god bles the Tomcat

R.I.P

[p51pilot28]

i miss that plane

[floodtl]

Mine too.

[hellstorm1978]

Ahhhh  my old ship, the G-Dub.

[chriskc71]

Been there and done that too. And guess what, they can have it! I was fly three yellow shirt. Still brings back memories though.

[profusions]

NaVykaTT, Isn't great to have vivid memories to fall back on? BTW, what is the GDub?

[Knightfang1]

The USS George Washington CVN-73

G-dub is a shorthand way of saying G W for George Washington. But I don't know how they can tell this is that ship. I can't see enough of the ship in the video to tell which one it is.

[NaVyKaTT]

back in 99' i was on the GDub....i miss it!!!

[bowcatsafetyobs]

Great video... Cat 1 Safety Observer 1982-1986 cvn-69 Eisenhower.. Really great times wish was there again.

[NastyFast]

Cool vid, Thanks for posting.

[all4vid]

Been there, done that!

VFA-136 Knighthawks '92....Good times :)

[usnavy1775]

its cvn 73 not cva 73