The title of this post sums up my Saturday experience. I was fortunate enough to get an invite to tag along on a RIMPAC mission last Friday. Unfortunately, due to having a day job, I had to turn down getting to fly from O'ahu and over the Big Island in a C17 with the rear of the aircraft open, and a pair of F16's flying closely behind it! However, I was given a last minute invite to go on a tour of the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN76) - The first aircraft carrier to be named after a living (at the time) former president (Ronald Reagan - 40th president of the United States).
I met up with a few other people (aka Tweeps) that I'd only ever talked to on Twitter at the Tweet-Up location. We were taken by bus from Pearl Harbor over to Hickam, given some info about our flight to CVN76, then driven out to a C-2A Greyhound.
The C-2 is a small twin-prop aircraft!
Landing on an aircraft carrier is known as a "trap". An hour after departing Hickam AFB we were advised that we were going to be landing soon. I braced myself for the impact (you go from 125mph to 0mph in 2 seconds. It wasn't too violent as you're seated facing the rear of the aircraft. Facing forward and you'd probably lose your eyeballs. We touched the deck but missed the wire, so had to get back into the air! We got the wire on attempt #2. There are 3 wires on the deck of CVN76 and the target is to hit #2. If you get #1 then you're too low. Hit wire #3 are you're too high.
My first "trap" is in the bag, and I have my coin as a memory.
The rear of the C-2 opened up and were were greeted with a view of the flight deck, some deck crew, and a few F-18's. Wow, this is really happening!
Standing In a place every kid has probably dreamed about since 1986!
Our first stop involved a trek down a few flights of stairs to the Commanding Officer's office where we met the higher-ups that run the show!
Next stop was lunch! I wasn't sure what to expect in the way of food, but we were treated to a pretty good lunch! Meatballs, turkey and gravy, rice, carrots, etc. A burger cooked to order, some guava juice, and a brownie!
At the Reagan Room... That piece of concrete I'm touching is part of the Berlin Wall!
Below the flight deck.
F18 Hornet.
Communications room.
On the flight deck to see aircraft take off and recovery (trap).
I've realized that you can watch all the videos on youtube that you want, or watch Top Gun with surround sound, but nothing comparesto standing within 20 feet of an F18, getting blasted by the afterburners, being able to feel the heat, power, and roar as it hurtles along the flight deck and into the sky. I wish a lot of my friends could have been there to get the experience. The best I can do is share a video that I took:
Flight deck of the USS Ronald Reagan CVN76 During RIMPAC 2010 from Mike Zagorski on Vimeo.
Landing! The wire that's on deck has to replaced after 150 landings.
Sitting in Commanding Officer Kenneth J Norton's chair. That's him on the right!
Honorary Naval Aviator!
I'll update this blog entry later... Lots more to add!
I'd like to thank Pacific Fleet, Pacific Command, and everyone aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, and the 14 countries taking part in RIMPAC 2010 for a truly unforgettable experience that will be hard to surpass!
