America (CV 66) - Naval Cruise Book

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Carrier Flight Operations Aircraft operations from the flight deck of an Aircraft Carrier are performed with such precision and coordination between hundreds of people that they have been compared to a well-orchestrated ballet. Landing on a flight deck entails bringing the aircraft in at an exact predetermined speed, altitude, and angle, bringing it from 150 miles per hour to a stop in a distance of 350 feet. A catapult-assisted launch sends a 44,000 pound aircraft from 0 to 180 miles per hour in a distance of 260 feet. What can appear to an observer to be total chaos, is actually hundreds of men. identified by various colored shirts according to their job, rapidly moving, servicing, and arming aircraft to permit launches and recoveries at a rate of up to one every thirty seconds.

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AMERICA Facts SS Horsepower.................................................................. 200,000 + Speed....................................................................... 30+ Knots Length...................................................................... 1047.5 Feet Extreme Breadth of Flight Deck................................................ 252 Feet Depth at Centerline......................................................... 97.3 Feet Area of Flight Deck.........................................................4.57 Acres Displacement at Load Draft................................................. 80,000 Tons Number of Crew (Including Air Wing)............................................ 5,300 Meals Served Aboard Daily....................................................... 18,000 Number of Anchors.....................................................................2 Weight of Anchors........................................................ 30 Tons Each Weight of Each Anchor Chain Link............................................ 391 Pounds Number of Propellers (all Five-Blade)................................................ 4 Height of Propellers.....................................................22 Feet Each Weight of Propellers............................................... 69,300 Pounds Each Number of Deck Elevators........................................................... 4 Size of Plane Elevators............................................. 3,880 Square Feet Number of Catapults.................................................................. 4 Daily Capacity of Distilling Plants.................................... 280,000 Gallons