Dwight Eisenhower (CVN 69) - Naval Cruise Book

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operations ... A recovery every 45 On deck, the constant movement of air- craft and equipment appears to be chaos at first glance. Further observation reveals a carefully orchestrated ballet of man and machine. Airplanes move only at the signal of yellow- shirted directors. Weapons are loaded by red-shirted ordnance handlers. The final safety check before a catapult launch is the job ofawhite-shirted checker. Blue shirts chock and chain aircraft, green shirts main- tain the catapults and arresting gear, v hile the purple-shirted grapes run the fuel hoses to aircraft on deck (Photos, clockwise from left: Catapult personnel prepare the deck for recoveries after the completion of a launching cycle; An F A-18 awaits its turn for launch while a green shirt stands by: Aircraft line the deck edge, leaving room for others to recover and launch: Aircraft stack up on the bow, keep- ing the landing area clear.)

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Flight A launch every 60 seconds . . . The aircraft carrier is America ' s most mobile and capable military platform. The combination of the ship and its air wing provide a globally recognized force that galvanizes U.S. resolve. IKE punches aircraft into the air from a dead stop to speeds approaching 170 mph in less than two seconds, and traps air- craft hitting the deck at similar speeds on a stretch of deck less than 500 feet long. But the catapults and arresting cables are use- less without people. More than 200 men move to the call of flight quarters. Deep within the ship, IKE ' s grapes, or aviation fuels specialists, operate pump rooms that provide JP-5 to fuel aircraft on deck. Air department per- sonnel endure the searing heat of the cata- pult machinery rooms and noise of the arresting gear machinery rooms to make IKE a ready airfield in any weather, day or night, anywhere in the world.

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IKE ' S ' ready deck . t Photos, clockwise from above: Red shirts load practice ordnance on an aircraft: An F-14 Tomcat makes its approach on IKE: A yellow shirt directs an F A- 1 8 Hornet to the catapult: Flight deck personnel take a break between light cycles: Blue shirts stand by to chock and chain an E-2C Hawkeye.