Why US Tried the Most Dangerous Landing Ever Made on an Aircraft Carrier

hello everyone and welcome back to the fluctus channel [Music] today's aircraft have the ability to operate from some of the most demanding runways in the world [Music] in light of modern technology and human innovation pilots face the challenge of landing and taking off from aircraft carriers makeshift dirt runways and drastically shortened landing zones in the middle of the sea [Music] [Music] aircraft carriers are fundamentally airfields at sea that often act as the flagship of a naval fleet their technical capabilities have evolved drastically since they were first used in combat during world war one with dozens of modern aircraft on board they are responsible for the launching landing and arming of military planes and helicopters specialized crew known as the aviation ordnance team are responsible for the management and supply of weapons to the various aircraft on board bring it up aircraft carriers also play an important role in supporting other aircraft which are operating within the carrier strike group [Music] in the past grumman c1 traders were heavily relied upon to bring new supplies to most carriers although it eventually became obsolete with its lack of range and payload capacity with more and more supplies needed for multiple aircraft carriers the u.s started to consider using the c-130 hercules [Music] this enormous aircraft had a wingspan of 132 feet and would prove to be quite the challenge to land on an aircraft carrier measuring only 1067 feet long by 238 feet wide [Music] many attempts at landing this gigantic plane were made on board the uss forestall with 29 touch and go landings and 21 unarrested full stop landings [Music] after much testing the c-130 hercules could safely land using only 460 feet of runway and 745 feet for taking off quite the achievement for a 76 000 pound aircraft carrying a 13-ton payload [Applause] impressively over 2 500 c-130s across 32 variants have been built over the years thus making it the most extended aircraft production run in military history [Music] with the capability to carry massive cargo loads and operate from some of the world's most challenging runways the c-130 has proven itself to be an extremely versatile and practical transportation aircraft that's good okay eric we've got everything we can from the flush tank into number one several c-130 versions are equipped with weaponry those work as gunships such as the ac-130u or the ac-130h and with speeds of up to 320 knots they are highly suited for carrying paratroopers and other equipment the u.s navy had great success landing the c-130 at sea but they were not always successful with other aircraft [Music] one such aircraft that proved too difficult to land was the u2 dragon lady spy plane introduced in 1957 it features a wingspan of over 100 feet and has just two wheels aligned like a bicycle many problems arise politically when landing a spy plane on foreign soil [Music] so the best solution was to have it land and take off from u.s aircraft carriers taking off wasn't so much a problem but landing it proved to be a challenging task [Music] some older u2 models were modified to u2gs giving them a more remarkable ability to land on carriers the oversized wings were reinforced and spoilers were fitted to aid in slowing down for landings the fuselage had a tail hook attached for the arresting gear to catch on to along with the landing gear itself is greatly strengthened with its unwieldy wings the u-2 was a very difficult aircraft to fly for even the most experienced pilots with that being said landings on an aircraft carrier were bravely attempted in 1964 keeping the wing straight when landing was too difficult to task for pilots with the wing tilting to one side the aircraft bounced along it until it came to a stop to this day no more attempts to land the dragon lady on a carrier have ever happened again [Music] with the improvement of technology over time the challenges of field landings have been overcome by introducing modern takeoff and recovery systems 14 navies worldwide are operating a variety of aircraft carriers with an array of capabilities there are three main ways in which aircraft carriers can launch their planes the cattle bar catapult assisted takeoff barrier arrested recovery the stow bar short takeoff barrier arrested recovery and the stovall short takeoff and vertical landing [Music] the u.s navy operates 11 nuclear powered carriers that are all equipped with the cattle bar system one carrier alone the gerald r ford class can carry over 75 aircraft with 4 500 supporting crew the gerald r ford class does away with a steam powered cattle bar and instead utilizes an electromagnetic launch system with advanced arresting gear this colossal ship boasts a full load displacement of 100 000 tons making it the largest in the world [Music] two of these carriers designated cvn 78 and cvn 79 took approximately four years each to be constructed the gerald r ford was first launched in 2013 followed six years later by the john f kennedy in 2019 these are a technical improvement over their predecessor the nimitz class with nuclear reactors offering 250 more electrical supply than before the nimitz class named after admiral chester w nimitz isn't too far behind the gerald r ford class with a total load displacement of 97 000 tons making it the second largest carrier in the world since 1975 10 of these nimitz-class carriers have been operated by the u.s navy the flight deck is approximately 4.5 acres with the slightly older steam-powered cattle bar system fitted about 60 aircraft operate from the flight deck with another 30 or so stored in the below hangers its top speed of 30 knots is achieved with the help of two nuclear reactors spinning the four propeller shafts [Music] the newport news shipbuilding company in virginia is responsible for constructing the gerald r ford and the nimitz-class aircraft carriers these super carriers have been refined since their initial conception in the 1950s and are now constructed with separate modular pieces called super lifts which are later connected together approximately 200 pieces are separately built weighing between 80 and 900 tons each and then welded into position the last piece to be fitted is the enormous 575 ton island which is the command center for all flight deck operations [Music] that's the end of this video i hope you enjoyed it make sure to subscribe to this channel so you don't miss any of our new content see you next time [Music] you

Channel: Fluctus

Views: 2,997,637

Keywords: U-2 Dragon Lady, US, Spy Plane, US Air Force, US Navy, Aircraft Carrier, USS Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier, A-10 Warthog, Thunderbolt II, Austere Landing, C-130 Hercules, Grumman C-1 Trader, KC-130F, aircraft carrier, USS Forrestal, lockheed martin, A-10 thunderbolt, Fairchild republic, AMLO, austere landing, unprepared runways, IATA, runway centerline marking, landing signal, air traffic control, friction tester, Skiddometer, Moventor

Id: 3wdfX4hcyDY

Length: 11min 1sec (661 seconds)

Published: Mon Jul 25 2022