Welcome aboard the Paddles' Platform
of CVN-73...AKA the G-Dub, the George Washington...Spirit of Freedom, or "the
first in war and the first in peace". Today, we're in day two of CNATRA (or Chief of Naval Air
Training) carrier qualification. In the solo-ized front cockpit of these jets are Naval Flight Students in the latter half of their T-45 syllabi, closing in on their coveted "Wings of Gold". Once winged, the'll go on to fly Navy or Marine Corps tactical aircraft, such as the F-18, F-35,
or EA-18G, and a few of them have already been selected to fly the newly improved E-2D Hawkeye. To qualify, these students will need 10 traps and four hookup touch and goes with a GPA of 2.5 or better and at least a 60% boarding (or trap) rate. To get that they're going to need good grades. Let's talk about what that looks like. 5.0...perfect pass...we won't see that from the students today. We might see a few "oaks", though, (or OK passes), which is a pass with reasonable deviations with
good corrections. You get 4.0 for that. We'll see a lot of "fairs", which is a safe pass with
reasonable deviations...3.0. We could see a few "no- grades", which is a below average but safe
pass. You only get a 2.0 for that. A cut pass, however, is a bad deal. That's an unsafe pass with gross deviations inside the wave off window. You get a ticket home for that...zero points...do
not pass go. Lastly, students can also "bolter", which is when they fail to trap with their hook
down. Not a huge deal, but too many of those will put your boarding or trap rate at less than 60%. These landings will be graded by squadron LSOs, who you see in front of us on the platform. The LSO or Landing Signal Officer's primary responsibility is the safe and expeditious recovery of fixed wing aircraft aboard the ship. The LSO is directly responsible for
training pilots on carrier landing techniques, and the pilot and the LSO form a
professional and disciplined team, both ashore and afloat. The LSO strives to develop
the pilot's confidence, judgment, maximum effort, and technical proficiency. The pilot must rely on
the LSO's experience and ability to prepare him or her for optimum effectiveness as a carrier pilot. On the platform in front of us, you see a lot of LSOs. Some are from NAS Kingsville and some are
from NAS Meridian. And some of the LSO are under instruction, while others are the instructors. Depending upon who's in the groove, the LSOs will cycle both the Paddles and the pickle to make sure that the appropriate LSO is waving the pass. Over the next few minutes, you'll see one hook-up touch
and go, one bolter, two traps, one "how you doin', what are you doing on the wrong side of the foul line?" You'll get to see the search and rescue helicopter land on spot seven behind the tower, and you'll get to see how T-45s can magically taxi backwards, using only manpower. The G-Dub's got some maintenance issues going on today, so the one and four-wires have been stripped, leaving only the two and the three. Let's see how that pans out for CQ ...so keep your sunglasses
on and let's hang out on the Paddles Platform, as we experience CNATRA CQ from the flight deck of the United States Ship, George Washington. We've got a student in the groove, let's watch the pass. That was an intentional hook-up touch and go, and students need four of those to qualify. With a new student about to roll in the groove, it looks like we're going to change out the Controlling LSO, so you see the Outgoing LSO give the Incoming Controlling LSO both the headset and the pickle switch to wave the pass. Looks like there is a jet rolling through the 45, getting ready for the wings level transition. The Deck Caller just told the controlling LSO "10 feet". Let's talk about what that means. The Deck Caller is an LSO, whose job is to stand in position visually in front of the Controlling LSOs with an unobstructed view of the angled deck and to signal any obstruction in the LA by raising his hand over his head. When all obstructions are
clear, he lowers his hand and moves behind the Controlling and Backup LSOs, where he continues to
monitor the deck status for the remainder of the pass. And there he is right there. Used in this way, the Deck Caller is a primary indication to the Backup and Controlling LSOs that the wave off window is either 100 feet (when there are obstructions in the LA) or 10 feet (when there are
no obstructions). Wave offs are predicted by the LSOs on the conditional factors of the approaching aircraft, but in no case will the clearance be less than 10 feet if the deck is foul. Looks like the Deck Callers have just changed over and the new Deck Caller is a little more "motivated" than his predecessor. You can hear him rhythmically chanting "100", until the deck is clear of all
obstructions, at which point he'll say "10 feet". The LA is now clear and the wave off window
has been lowered from 100 feet to 10 feet, and we just heard the Boss come up on the radio, which we call the 5MC that broadcasts over the flight deck, and tell the blue shirts to get the chocks and chains ready for spot seven, which is the helicopter landing spot
just behind or aft of the tower, on the starboard side. Alright,
there's a jet in the approach turn...just about ready to roll in the groove, let's
watch the pass. You can see how the new Deck Caller continues to look aft and watch the
LA, to make sure that it remains clear of all obstructions, while the Controlling LSO waves the
pass. Looks like he snagged the three-wire. Nice! The student FINALLY comes back on the power and now he'll get his hook up when told to do so, make that right hand turn out of the LA, and work his way back to the catapults. With an aircraft crossing the ship's wake during
case one operations, the Controlling LSO holds her right arm up in the air with the pickle
switch in-hand to request a clear deck signal from the Arresting Gear Officer. She'll know she has a ready-deck when the deck status ready light in front of her changes from red to green. Looks like there's a jet crossing the wake. Let's see how this goes. That could have been bad. That's exactly why we have a Deck Caller. Two Directors, one under instruction, weren't quite paying attention and drifted out over the foul line into the LA or landing area with the jet about to land. Luckily the Deck Caller was able to coerce those two Directors back over the foul line, before they were required to wave off that jet at 100 feet. There's the two Directors
that were "in question" and that's the foul line. You just heard the Mini Boss say "stuff the
wire". That's the Navy way of saying "get the jet that just trapped out of the arresting gear or the wires, park it where the Handler needs it, get a fuel hose on the jet, and get the pilot out, so the jet is "stuffed" and ready for later". This is different than a "pump". Two traps ago,
the Mini Boss told the deck crew to "pump the wire". In a pump, the jet just gets sidelined,
where it can get gas and the pilot can remain with the aircraft to get airborne again quickly, whereas in a stuff, the pilot usually gets out. Alright, the Captain of the ship has made the decision to discontinue CQ for a little while, due to limited sea space, so he's going to recover the search and rescue helicopter, turn the boat around, and steam for a little while, and then point back into the wind to launch and recover aircraft. This will give the deck the opportunity to reset and will give the LSOs a break on the platform. As aircraft 193 gets ready for the "stuff" and makes its way back towards elevator 4, which is the elevator on the port side of the ship, just forward to the Paddles' Platform, we can begin to hear the SAR helicopter approach from the starboard side of the ship. During fixed-wing flight operations, Mom is required to have a plane guard available for a SAR effort at all times. This plane guard can sometimes be another ship alongside; however,
in this case, and more commonly, the plane guard is an MH-60 series Seahawk helicopter that flies on the starboard side of the ship, between 1 and 5 miles at less than 300 feet. Should a Sailor get blown overboard, or should a pilot have to eject near the aircraft carrier, the SAR asset can immediately recover the downed Sailors. There are nine landing spots on the aircraft carrier for helicopters and spot seven is the one that's just behind the island, near elevator 3 on the starboard side of the aircraft carrier. You can see the helicopter approach Mom
from the starboard side and work its way slowly over the deck, careful not to drift too
far forward and get too close to the tower, or drift too far aft and get too close to
the two T-45s currently chocked and chained in "the patio". Keep in mind, Mom is still "steaming" while this is going on, so that Seahawk helicopter is hovering over a moving ship. Looks like he's made it over the deck and he's hovering. He's coming down now...nice
and slow... nice and slow...touchdown. Nice! While that was going on, it's still time to push 193 backwards onto elevator 4. So you see the Director in front of the aircraft with his hands
up in the air (open palms), signaling to the pilot to keep his feet off the brakes, while the deck crew pushes the jet backwards. T-45s weigh around 13,000 lbs and as you can see the ground crew is having a little bit of trouble pushing that thing back... up and over the lip to elevator 4. And push...pushing...got
stuck again. The Director is saying "PUSH"! Little more... keep it coming... Now if you look at the Director, you'll see him point to his nose and then point to a direction.
looking good. That's the direction that he wants the pilot to move the nose wheel of the aircraft, so that he can back it into the right spot. Coming back... coming back...looking
good. Little kick to the left... a little more to the left... looking good. Coming straight back
now...and stop! Nice! Well guys, if you enjoyed the jam today please like leave a comment and subscribe. Let me know what you think about CNATRA CQ from the flight deck of the United States Ship George Washington. Welcome aboard Growler Jams. Cheers!
