As you can see, Kuiper is suuuuper thrilled that we left him for a week for #jococruise ??? and visited the USS Midway Museum on the way back without him. He’s complaining that “all he got was this lousy postcard ? and some lousy liver for holding it.” ? The aircraft carrier-turned-museum was suuuuper cool; we spent over 4 hours there. We would highly recommend visiting if you’re ever in San Diego. Swipe to see pictures relevant to today’s post about plane butts, as well as a picture of the “Island,” or command tower, and one heck of a steering wheel. ☸️
Did you know that planes always land on aircraft carriers at full throttle? That’s the equivalent to bringing your car to a complete stop while you’re flooring the gas. Except instead of a car, you’re in a fighter jet (which is a LOT heavier) and you decelerate from ~150 mph (240 km/h) to 0 in two seconds flat. While the highway is moving. Then you need to get the heck out of the way, because the next plane is landing where you are in 45 seconds! How??
Have you seen the first Back to the Future movie, where Marty is speeding along in the DeLorean with the hook on the back of the car, and he grabs the wire at exactly the right time for the lightning to hit it? Stopping a jet plane on an aircraft carrier works kind of like that, minus the time travel!
We equip some planes with what’s called an “arresting hook” or “tailhook,” which ? catches one of several cables across the flight deck. The cable is attached to a giant hydraulic brake, and the system is adjusted for the weight of each individual plane. The idea originated from early aviator (and circus performer!) Hugh Robinson.
Planes land at full throttle as a safety precaution in case the tailhook misses the wire. The pilot needs to be able to take off again right away so that they can circle around and give it another try. It’s not always the pilot’s fault when this happens; the ship is moving independently, and if it heaves just at the right moment, the cable can simply drop right out from under their tail!
If you found today’s post interesting, check out our friend @sawyer_the_seadog! He works at the National Museum of the US Navy!
Original post: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bfv2apDgUwu/