The good ones make it look easy: Intricate skills required to land a fighter jet on a carrier

Rate this post

My father served aboard the USS Enterprise for some time while he was in the US Navy. He worked in the ATC tower on that carrier and later went on to become a private pilot himself. While growing up, we took many flights in his Cessna four seater. He even let me skip school one day to take a day flight!

Although I despise flying commercially today, I fondly remember the flights with my dad as a teenager. And I wonder what it would be like to fly a figher jet and try to land/take off from a carrier. Here’s what it takes:

Amazing skill set these pilots have. And amazing technology.

What a ride that would be!

DCG

Please follow and like us:
5 2 votes
Article Rating
6 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
DrE
Admin
DrE
3 years ago

Most impressive!

Sadly, under the Biden administration, the leaders of the US military are failing miserably in getting Americans (and Afghan allies) out of the hell-hole called Afghanistan. 🙁

Gracie Storvika
Gracie Storvika
3 years ago

Wonderful film clips.

Calgirl
Calgirl
3 years ago

Thank you, DCG, for sharing a peek into your background and your father’s life. So appreciated and so “community-building” on our beloved site where we share many thoughts.

. What you posted is almost too amazing to realize, even in these “modern” times! My favorite great-uncle was an early self-trained flyer during early flying and a plane-builder, who helped establish the Civil Air Patrol program at Penn State during WWII. Both the saddest and sweetest day of my life was when he came to my father’s funeral, having outlived his nephew, to pay his respects to me. I so loved him before, and continued to revere him for his achievements, and his outstanding commitment to family, community, and country through all his years.

truckjunkie
truckjunkie
3 years ago

Drag racing is a similar rush at launch, but racers don’t get the luxury of flying around to wind their nerves down before they “land” at the other end of the ride. It’s all done in a quarter mile, often at over 300 miles per hour and a little over 3 seconds.

Last edited 3 years ago by truckjunkie
Brian Heinz
Brian Heinz
3 years ago
Reply to  truckjunkie

Love the G force those funny cars pull. A friend of mine owned one and he would have fun with people he had a close pin on the dash he would put a $100.00 bill on it and said if I can reach it before he got to 4th gear I could keep it. LOL not even at 4th till he backed off of it you can not do it. He would keep you in that seat plastered to the point you could not lift your arms up far enough to reach it.

joandarc
joandarc
3 years ago

Indeed, this is most impressive! We must pray for all of the people in Afghanistan who are in terrible jeopardy! Please God help them!