- Business Insider recently visited the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea with the U.S. Navy.
- To get there, the reporter flew from Bahrain to an aircraft carrier in a small cargo plane.
- Landing on the huge warship was impressive, but taking off was a shocking experience.
Two of the plane's crew members shouted, “Let's go!” And I waited nervously for the plane to depart. When it finally happened, there was a roar and I was instantly thrown forward into the harness.
A catapult launch from an aircraft carrier is an even more intense, sharp and unpleasant experience than landing, and I recently experienced this firsthand on a U.S. Navy C-2 Greyhound.
Last week, I flew from Bahrain, home of the Navy's 5th Fleet, to the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower in the Red Sea to closely observe the Navy's response to attacks by Iranian-backed Houthi rebels. International shipping routes off the coast of Yemen have been plying for months.
The first thing I noticed as we boarded the propeller-driven plane that would fly us to Ike was the distinct lack of windows.
The old Greyhound had some very small windows, but they were behind me and I could barely see. I was a little nervous about landing on an aircraft carrier, which is an airport floating on the ocean, so the poor visibility was less than ideal.
I had never seen a Grumman C-2 Greyhound before. The Grumman C-2 Greyhound is a twin-engine propeller aircraft tasked with transporting personnel and cargo to U.S. aircraft carriers at sea. These aircraft will be used for his COD (Carrier Onboard Delivery) flights.
The Navy has regularly used these aircraft to deliver parts, supplies, mail, and passengers to airlines since they were first introduced in the mid-1960s.
Before boarding the Greyhound through the rear cargo door, we were given a buoyancy vest, a must-have for overwater flights, and protective headgear with goggles and heavy-duty earmuffs. We sat in two-on-two formations, facing backwards in lightly padded seats, and put on our harnesses.
Other than facing in the wrong direction, takeoff from Bahrain was very similar to any other commercial flight I've been on. But the air was cold and unpleasant, and somehow it sounded as if millions of bees were buzzing around us, creating an interesting atmosphere along with the turbulence.
After a few hours in the air, we suddenly made a tough bank. Over the noise of the plane, flight attendants yelled at us to put on our goggles, lower our heads, fold our arms, and assume a fixed position.
After a few last-minute crashes, we landed on Ike's deck. The arresting gear was a belt that helped the plane decelerate quickly on the carrier's short runway, allowing it to reach a complete stop from about 130 mph in just three seconds. It was violent and unlike anything I had ever experienced before.
However, it was still not as intense as the takeoff from Eisenhower the next day.
Before our flight home, we watched a quick safety video, were given the same equipment as on the return flight, and were immediately told to put on goggles. I boarded the Greyhound and sat a little taller in a seat overlooking the window.
We quickly got into a taxi and were in position to start. Ike's runway is very short, so planes launch from catapults. A catapult is a steam-powered mechanism that propels an airplane forward at high speed. I was afraid of this. (I'm not a big fan of roller coasters and probably wasn't cut out for naval aviation).
Finally, the launch began and the plane moved forward at incredible speed, the force of the experience pushing me into the harness and flying right off the deck.
It was over in seconds and I breathed a sigh of relief. But after a few minutes, I craned my neck to look out the window and noticed something strange. We were still at a fairly low altitude above the water.
Suddenly, it rose with a force that felt much greater than a catapult launch, gaining considerable altitude in quick spurts. I never expected something like this to happen, so I sat in the front seat and closed my eyes. Then, in another development, the aircraft plummeted, eventually leveling out above the clouds.
It's as strange to launch from the deck of an aircraft carrier as it is to land on it, and I can only imagine what it's like for naval aviators to regularly jump off rockets from ships, but still… It was an incredible experience.
On the flight back to Bahrain, we experienced a bit of turbulence. The sunset was amazing that night so it was nice to be able to look out the window.
