THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 29, 1996 TAG: 9606290041
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROSEMARY GOUDREAU, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 45 lines
I REMEMBER TWO words from the briefing before we flew aboard the aircraft carrier Enterprise last month: Arrested Landing.
In other words, our Navy transport plane would approach the carrier deck at 120 mph and, if everything went well, snag a wire with its tailhook and stop in two seconds.
The idea brought me to a box of Dramamine, with a chaser of light soup.
The inside of the plane looked like none I'd been on before. All the seats faced backward. Exposed wires and pipes set the cabin's decor. And with only two windows, the cabin had a certain cavelike ambience.
Take a deep breath, I told myself. Forget about motion sickness.
``Anyone on board subject to air sickness?'' an airman up front asked.
Strapped tightly in my seat harness, sweating beneath my flotation device, helmet and goggles, I timidly raised my hand.
The young airman looked at me without expression, then sat down.
I was good to go for about 15 minutes. Problem was, the flight lasted an hour. During a turbulent patch, the young airman looked back at me, then passed a bag. A thoughtful young man.
Part of the thrill of landing on an aircraft carrier comes right before you touch down. To get into position, the pilot puts the plane into a steep bank, throwing you back in your seat. Seconds later, the airman up front gives the landing sign: hands wildly waving in the air.
``Hoo-yah,'' a guy behind me yelled.
``Yeah, fine,'' my sickened self thought.
The tailhook clanged like a chain on the deck and the plane stopped so fast I hardly remember it. What I remember is someone opening the back of the darkened plane and how I felt like a hatchling emerging from an egg. The feeling continued when we were told to walk one behind another, ``like a line of ducks,'' on the flight deck.
In seas of 3 to 4 feet, the 1,123-foot Enterprise barely rocked and rolled, and my sickness quickly passed.
During my two-day visit, I heard pilots say that for them, the worst thing in the world is having to walk off a ship.
As I watched the catapult hurling planes into the air, I was thankful that the Enterprise would dock the next day.
I would rather walk the gangplank any day.
KEYWORDS: ENTERPRISE BATTLE GROUP by CNB