Pics & Video from my aircraft carrier embark... **LARGE IMAGE WARNING**

[F8LSVT]

Awesome pics, thanks for sharing.

[terminator03]

badass

[danielhv]

Ok, so day 1. We got there the night before, late. NAS North Island in San Diego. Went straight to our barracks. Got to stay where the officers stay, pretty nice! Kinda neat - they had the usual keycard access into the rooms, but when you get in, you have to put your card into a slot on the wall to turn the power on in the room. That way they can conserve electricity.

Here's the kitchen in my room:



The next morning, a quick run to McDonalds, and on the way to our meeting point we drove pass the USS CARL VINSON CVN-70 which is in for refueling if I recall. Interesting fact: It takes about 4 years to refuel an aircraft carrier. Before they come into port, all the planes leave it, and all the weapons systems were covered in white tarps. The fuel rods last 25 years. The spent rods & reactors go to (I THINK he said Virginia or somewhere) and are placed in a lead lined railcar, and placed in an exposed ditch for satellite monitoring from other countries. Here is the VINSON in port:



We made it to our meeting location where we were escorted over to the Public Affairs building. We sat through a meeting with a female helicopter pilot that explained some of what we would see. She was very thorough and taught us a lot that I wasn't aware of. She covered topics like Why do we need a Navy? The ships used by the Navy, aircraft, rank, symbols, uniforms, etc.

We left the meeting and headed to the air terminal. Our ride out to the carrier was on a C-2 Greyhound with VRC-30 "The Providers" (http://www.cacclw.navy.mil/vrc30/). Before we walked out to the plane, we had to suit up. Flotation device (They called them horse collars) and cranials. A quick pic of me and my Dad:



And then we walked out to the awaiting C-2:



From there, we waited, and waited, and waited. Maintenance issues lol.



And then finally, it was time to head out. Here we are leaving their terminal:



We took off, and flew for a good 45 - 50 minutes. The carrier was 100nm off the coast. Nothing special here, just some airplane noise and a seat.:



So the seats in the C-2 are facing backwards. This is to put you in a safer position for an arrested landing. So the procedure was to tighten your straps, helmet / cranial on, and sit back in the seat with your head in the head rest. The crew yelled "HERE WE GO, HERE WE GO!" which you can hear at the very beginning of the video. Unfortunately, there isn't much to see except the straps hanging from the top leaning forward once we hit the wire... As for how it felt, well, it was pretty dang cool. Going from 120mph to 0 in 2 seconds, its definitely an experience. I wish I could describe it in a way that you could relate to... but I don't know how. It was smooth, steady, yet rapid deceleration. It happened so fast. Anyways, here's my view during my first arrested landing:



Now, the REAGAN's Media Dept put together a video that I am stealing this next clip from... and of course, they put music to it... and of course, its Top Gun. So, know that it wasn't me! Anyway, this is a video of our landing, taxiing, and unloading. I'm the first one out.



More tomorrow.

[abecx]

America, fuck yeah

[motoman]

How did you have this opportunity?

[danielhv]

How did you have this opportunity?

I'm a regional officer with the US Naval Sea Cadets -http://www.seacadets.org

We were awarded this opportunity for some mutual recruiting opportunities.

[Frank]

I'm a regional officer with the US Naval Sea Cadets -http://www.seacadets.org

We were awarded this opportunity for some mutual recruiting opportunities.

So the equivalent to the Navy as the Civil Air Patrol is to the Air Force then. Where do you guys meet?

[danielhv]

So the equivalent to the Navy as the Civil Air Patrol is to the Air Force then. Where do you guys meet?

Correct.

The local squadron meets one weekend per month at the Joint Reserve Base in FTW. The region staff meets twice per year.

[ALLAN]

Awesome pics

[Sean88gt]

Absolutely incredible. Kind of makes me bummed I didn't pursue JAG more seriously.

[helosailor]

It's a pretty good adrenaline rush up on deck during a full cycle of flight ops. Looking back, I really liked my time on a carrier.

[danielhv]

So, we step out of the COD (Carrier On-Board Delivery Aircraft) and follow the leader down to the "Red Room", which is the nice office on the ship as the captain put it. It is his official in-port cabin, and was designed by Ronald Reagan's wife. Everything from the fabrics, color, furniture, lighting, etc. was picked out by her. They even had Reagans desk and chair in there. Pretty cool. We were greeted by several people, some I do not recall seeing again. The female is the ships PAO, and the gentleman in the flight suit is the Execuitive Officer of the ship, Captain Crozier - http://www.reagan.navy.mil/leadership_crozier.html

Very nice guy, welcomed us aboard and kept us company until the Commanding Officer , Captain Bolt - http://www.reagan.navy.mil/leadership_bolt.html came in to welcome us. They had little sandwiches, tea, water, and the best damn chocolate chip cookies I've ever had... seriously.



The captain spoke for a bit, and I apologize for the audio.



After meeting Cpt Bolt, we were assigned rooms, and taken there where our bags were waiting for us. This was the first time I think I realized how big these damn ships are! Sure, looks big up top... but there are more friggin hallways and rooms than I could count. I mean NO space is wasted! And I bet we only saw a small portion of it. Frigging MASSIVE. Another cool thing, was we were only one floor under the flight deck, so you could hear planes landing and taking off the whole time. I know this part may be boring for some, but I just wanted to record the walking trips... really gives an idea of how much they have on these boats. I think I recorded everywhere we walked, so pucker up because there is more follow the leader where this came from!



A picture of our cabin. 5 minutes to hit the head, and grab cameras because it was time for the best part of the trip... Touring the flight deck! Tomorrow!

Here's me and my dorky camera setup emptying out my pockets in our room... Nothing in pockets allowed on flight deck.

[Treadhead]

Man, that is too cool!

[danielhv]

Ok, so up to the flight deck we go... Definitely the COOLEST part of the experience. So much is happening, and so many people, planes, etc. They had us so close to the planes during cat shots (catapult assisted takeoff's) that your entire body rumbles with the planes passing by. Those that have ever been to and seen a top fuel drag race know what I'm talking about.

The best way to describe the Flight Deck experience is "Orchestrated Chaos". Seriously. You could easily die up there lol.

Here ya go! This is all GoPro footage btw.



FLT DECK PART 1



FLT DECK PART 2



And then we were escorted back down below to get rid of all this extra gear we were wearing.



And here is the DSLR Footage of some of the same stuff:

[Darren M]

Bad ass!