“What we’re targeting is one aircraft per minute, whether it’s launching or landing. So for launching ten and landing ten, we want that whole evolution to take about 20 minutes,” said Commander Jeremy Rifas, the man in charge of all air traffic operations aboard the USS Eisenhower, also nicknamed the ‘Might IKE.’
Cmdr. Rifas is known as the ‘Air Boss’ and his office sits about 60 feet above the 4.5 acre flight deck of the USS Eisenhower, in a place called ‘Primary Flight Control,’ or the tower.
“Up here [in the tower] we make sure all the planes get to catapult on time, launched on time and then we’ll wrap up the flight deck and get it ready to land and then we’ll start landing all the aircraft,” Cmdr. Rifas said.
The 1,092 ft flight deck of the ‘IKE’ has four steam-powered catapults that are controlled by flight deck crew who work together to launch 67,000-pound aircraft into the air from a dead stop to speeds approaching 170 miles per hour in under two seconds flat.
“My specific job is to make sure that the arresting gear is set to the proper weight of every aircraft and that the lens is set to the proper type of aircraft,” Cmdr. Rifas said.
The lens, also known as the ‘ball,’ is a visual landing aid that pilots use to line up their aircraft with the flight deck.
READ MORE: Navy veterans take final sail on Canada’s last destroyer, HMCS Athabaskan
The planes range from a F/A-18E/F Super Hornets, known as the ‘strike fighter’ of the fleet; to a E2-C Hawkeyes, a radar plane that serves as the ‘eyes’ of the aircraft carrier strike group, providing surface surveillance and communications relay.
Each plane is equipped with a hook that allows the pilot to grab one of four arresting cables on the deck of the IKE.
Arrested landings and catapults are highly coordinated operations that rely on the many hands of the meticulously trained flight deck crew.
“You’ve got 600 people in the air department that operate the catapults and the arresting gear,” Cmdr. Rifas said.
Each member of the flight deck wears a different colour shirt that represents their role in air traffic operations.
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The colours range from yellow shirts, for people who direct the movement of the aircraft, to red shirts, for people who handle weapons and ammunition.
A US Aircraft Carrier hasn’t visited Halifax since 1998 and the IKE, a nuclear-powered Nimitz-class carrier, is coming to Nova Scotia as part of the 150th Canada Day celebrations.
“The ship [IKE] has been really excited to get up here and the sailors are excited to be here,” Rear Admiral Jim Malloy said, the Commander of CSG-10.
There’s roughly 3,000 sailors aboard the IKE for the Halifax visit, when she’s deployed that number jumps to approximately 5,000 with a full Air Wing.
WATCH: One of the world’s largest Aircraft Carriers, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower sails into Nova Scotia waters to take part in the 150th Canada Day celebrations. Take an inside look into how planes get to and from the super-carrier.
The U.S. Navy crew will participate in a variety of celebratory events including the Canada Day parade and the International Tattoo.
CSG-10 is also visiting Halifax to show interoperability and working-relations between Canada and the United States navy.
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