Leyte (CV 32) - Naval Cruise Book

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W That way-please The directbr at work I After a barrier crash-moving a plane A barrier crash-helping clear the deck Respotting the deck

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- , 1 ' ., . ..., - he ,rev .,-...'.'-' L' ' ' - The 'bossl plans a spot- that will look like this FLIGHT DECK CONTROL if THE uFlight Decknigang is composed of about 106 men split up into 6 crews. In charge of these crews are uYellow Shirts who are the semi-bosses of the flight deck. The duties of a yellow shirt are to direct aircraft about the deck and have charge over tl1e 6 crews. Tl1e crews arecalled the c'Plane Handlers and they push or pull the aircraft by means of manpower or tractors. Tl1e 6'Tractor Driversn drive their tractors, with a plane attached, into.the assigned spot prior to the take-off and after the landings. The work of the flight deck gangis longuand weary. It is tl1e busiest on board ship as well as the most dangerous. The men who handle these aircraft are well aware of the responsibility that lies in their hands and are quite careful with all the planes. The HF1ight Deck Officer is in charge of the whole Flight Deck Operation under the watchful eye of the uAir Officer who is referred to as the uAir Bossf' The 6 Flight Deck Officer has three as- sistants and they are: the uHangar Deck Officer who is in charge of tl1e aircraft parked on tl1e hangar deck, the uFlight Deck Bosinw and the cGFlight Deck Chieffl The Air Department is quite an organization and must be Mon tl1e ballw during operations. The re- sponsibility lies not only in the hands of the Air Boss but also tl1e lowest Plane Handler. The Flight Deck is again split into four Q41 different groups tl1at are part of tl1e V-1 Division. We have al- ready mentioned the plane handlers so we go to 4cCatapult.', The term uCats'7 refers to catapults and their job. These are the ones who see that the plane is catapulted from the flight deck. A fast, smooth-operating catapult gang is a major asset to operation of. the flight deck. Next we have 4GArresting Gear group called MACH and they have the job of catching the aircraft as they hit the deck. Sometimes the MBarriers fpart of AGJ have to stop the aircraft if the tailhook misses the pendants that run across the flight deck aft. This job of '4AG', sometimes provesvery exciting. Next we have ulfiepairw which you will read about in another article. This is about all there is on the Flight Deck without going into too much detail. V V-I FLIGHT DECK CREWS y

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REPAIR EIGHT p gg V l 66HEADS up on deck! This next plane is a deferred emergency. Repair Eight, stand byw. Those are the Words that have echoed many times across the deck of the LEYTE. What do those words mean to you? Nothing probably, but that is when the Repair Eight crew swings into action, just as an AA crew would upon sighting an enemy aircraft-each man knowing his duties. The mobile crane is made ready, crash boxes broken out, fire hoses standing by, hot-suit men are ready, and all hands are on the alert-then it happens-a wheels up landing, a fire, or a crash in the bar- riers. Each man runs to his station. Hoses are brought up, hot-suit men scurry to the plane to aid the pilot. who may be injured, caught in his harness, or stunned. The first and most important job is to rescue the pilot, who is then turned over to the corpsman. Then, lighting the fire and clearing away the wreckage is taken care of to ready the deck for further landings. Well, mate, it sounds like a pretty soft job, doesn't it? Well that is only one of the many duties of the Repair Eight crew. Each man is assigned a G. station, the. same as you .or your buddy. Some are phone talkers, RBA men, line tenders, and other of the various jobs that are carried out in the other of the repair lockers throughout the ship. These men carry out their G. and fiight quarters duties at the same time. During working hours when not at G. they have charge of the upkeep and maintenance of the damage control on the flight deck. Well mate, that just about covers it on Repair Eight. If you don't believe this, then come on up. Seeing is believing. Damaged enemg' S Here,s a job for the Repair Gang soon as he no whee s'ab0ut to land stops-the Hotsuit man is ready in case .of fire