Friday's Flying Video...

** Notice to readers- the below description (as well as the video) may prove to be entirely too boring for non-technically oriented readers... or for that matter, technically oriented readers.  Disclaimer complete.

So after being inspired by Matt showing flying videos, I decided to go through some of mine and see what else I had that may be of interest to you guys... so todays' flying video is one of me launching off of the good ole' USS Kitty Hawk... some things about the video:  I'm holding the small Canon Elph digital camera in my left hand against my chest to minimize the movement once the cat-stroke starts, and the immediate 6G onset begins.  The engines are at MIL, or full power, and the video starts with the last part of our pre-launch check-list... a wipe-out of all the controls, (moving the stick in a circular motion, and pushing the rudder pedals back and forth) This accomplishes two things- it gives the final checkers, who are positioned about 8 feet right and left of the fuselage, aft of the wings and crouched on the deck, to get one last look at the flight control surfaces to make sure they are all working.  For us in the cockpit, this is one last stress on the hydraulic system and gives us a chance make sure one last time our hyd's are in good shape... after the 'wipe-out' you can see his hand come up, and that is the salute we give to the 'shooter' that we are all set and ready to be launched, or go flying in literally 2 seconds.  You can see my oxygen hose in the picture at this point... we wear oxygen masks at launch and recovery (and generally during 'dynamic' phases of flight) but often if we are straight and level, the masks come off, because they aren't real comfortable.  At this point in the launch, as I mentioned, my left hand is holding the camera against my chest, and my right hand is resting lightly around the ejection handle between my legs, and my eyes are watching two things- engine instruments (bottom left of the instrument panel) and airspeed, if one of the engines fail on launch we are in a hurt-locker in a hurry- and if we don't get enough airspeed to go flying (our typical configuration/weight requires at least about 140 kts) i.e. from a 'soft cat' or a catapult shot that doesn't give us enough speed to go flying, we'll be a 56,000 lb paperweight going off of the front of the carrier.  Both of those scenarios require nearly immediate action with ejection being the last item to accomplish (among a litany of other things depending on the situation) so as the navigator, the closer my hand is to the ejection handle, the faster we can get out should things go south.  You'll see the 'stroke' of the cat is about 2 seconds long- we go from 0 to about 170 kts (about 195 mph) in that short time.  As you can imagine, it's quite a punch.  This video isn't all that exciting, but I figured I'd explain a little of what's happening.  Also, as soon as we are airborne, you can see the pilots' hand reach up for the gear handle and retract them.  Anyway- like I said- not the most exciting video, but a small sense of what's going on in the cockpit when one gets launched off of an aircraft carrier.  It's a huge rush- by the way- 6G's basically means your body weight immediately feels 6x what you normally weigh.  It's all lateral, and towards your back so there aren't any issues G-LOC'ng (Gravity Induced Loss of Consciousness)... but it is definitely a rush.

Enjoy.