EMALS & JPALS for the JSF

[popcorn]

I can't imagine that officer endorsing a return to steam.

[spazsinbad]

'navy officer' was the CO of REAGAN. Another look at the 'electronic & digital' later 'electromagnetic' that TRUMPs steam.

VIDEO: President Trump Quizzes Reagan Carrier CO on EMALS Program
23 Nov 2018 Ben Werner

"During a Thanksgiving-greetings call with the crew of USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76), President Donald Trump posed the question which is better, steam or electromagnetic flight-deck catapults....

...During the exchange with Capt. Pat Hannifin, Reagan’s commanding officer, Trump asked about the condition of the ship and wanted to know how the Nimitz-class Reagan compared with the nation’s newest carrier, the first-in-class USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN-78). “Sir, the condition of the ship is Alpha 1, A-1,” Hannifin said....

...“Tell me about the catapult,” Trump asked before Hannifin finished his answer. “On Gerald Ford, they don’t use steam which is the first one that I’ve ever heard of that doesn’t use steam. I know they have some difficulties which I’m not happy about, they spent a lot of money. I was just curious, the steam system is tried and true for many, many years, as long as we’ve had aircraft carriers, how do you find steam versus what they’re doing on the Gerald Ford which is electronic and digital if you can believe it.”...

...“Yes sir, all of our Nimitz supercarriers have been using steam for decades, and we find pretty reliable. However the electromagnetic catapults they’re running there offer some great benefits,” Hannifin said. “Obviously any new piece you gotta’ work through the bugs, but they offer some benefits, not only to stress and strain on the aircraft to extend service life. I have no doubt we’ll work through that just as we worked through all of our other advancements and continue to bring it to the enemy when we’re called to do so.”...

...“So when you do the new carriers as you do and we’re thinking of doing, would you go steam or would you go with the electromagnetic?” Trump asked. “Steam is very reliable, and the electromagnetic, I mean, unfortunately, you have to be Albert Einstein to work it properly.”

“Yes sir, sir you have to be Albert Einstein to run the nuclear power plants we have here as well, but we’re doing that very well,” Hannifin answered. “Sir, Mr. President I would go electro-magnetic cats, I think that’s the way to go, we do pay a heavy cost to transit the steam around the ship.”

Before becoming Reagan’s commanding officer, Hannifin spent most of his carrier flying fighters. He’s logged more than 2,800 hours flight hours, mostly in F/A-18 Super Hornets. He was also a Navy test pilot, and in 2000 was named the Naval Strike Test Squadron’s Test Pilot of the Year.

“Good, OK, I like to hear that,” Trump responded. “I’m actually happy about that answer because at least they’re doing what they’re doing, but that’s actually a very good answer.”"

Source: https://news.usni.org/2018/11/23/presid ... uss-reagan

President Trump Discusses EMALS with Aircraft Carrier Commander https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQmObklrXUU

[steve2267]

Is it unusual for a flyer to become a carrier captain?

[marsavian]

Capt Hannifin saves the Ford Class ! Shout-out to the airforce guys too who told him that the F-35 was invisible ! I actually think he is the most competent President since Reagan but his technical literacy leaves a lot to be desired. It says a lot though when ex actors and businessmen are better at the job then career politicians.

[spazsinbad]

Is it unusual for a flyer to become a carrier captain?

From some very general knowledge about USN I would suggest it is mandatory for NASAL REBATERS to be COs of CVNs.

[popcorn]

Is it unusual for a flyer to become a carrier captain?

From some very general knowledge about USN I would suggest it is mandatory for NASAL REBATERS to be COs of CVNs.

Yup, IIRC one of the smartest decisions the Congress ever made to allow naval aviation to realize it's potential.

An interesting origin account of how the 'Brown Shoes' navy ...

http://thebrownshoes.org/whence-term-brown-shoes

[popcorn]

One of the major benefits envisioned from implementing EMALS...

https://sldinfo.com/2018/11/the-french- ... nnovation/

This system is one of numerous initiatives built into the design of this ship that will allow us to change from the current nine to ten year dry dock repair cycle and extend it to a 12 year docking cycle.

Essentially in a half-life you have taken away one full dry dock repair cycle.

[spazsinbad]

Thanks - I missed that bit but discovered this HOWLER: "...With regard to the installation of meals, the two big steam cylinders are replaced with banks of electromagnetic motors...." POOFread POOFread POOFread….

[popcorn]

Thanks - I missed that bit but discovered this HOWLER: "...With regard to the installation of meals, the two big steam cylinders are replaced with banks of electromagnetic motors...." POOFread POOFread POOFread….

LOL.. I saw that scrambled mess too and knew you'ld be commenting.

[spazsinbad]

Trouble is that 'mess' brings down that site along with the interminable single sentence sometimes 'moving' paragraphs.

Seems to me they - at SLDinfo - 'don't give a damn'.

[popcorn]

Trouble is that 'mess' brings down that site along with the interminable single sentence sometimes 'moving' paragraphs.

Seems to me they - at SLDinfo - 'don't give a damn'.

Agree... but I'm happy to find a few nuggets once in a while.

[operaaperta]

Is it unusual for a flyer to become a carrier captain?

Check here at around 42.47 where a Naval Aviator describes the pathway to commanding a carrier (part of a great 4 part series on carrier aviation)-

https://www.fighterpilotpodcast.com/pod ... rs-part-2/

EDIT- Thanks Spaz, time stamp updated,

[spazsinbad]

Maybe start from 42min 47sec for PAPPY explanation from being an XO of a CVN to becoming CO one day perhaps....

[spazsinbad]

Why the Navy thinks the carrier Gerald R. Ford will work after all
28 Nov 2018 Mark D. Faram

"The technology glitches plaguing the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford, lead ship of the Navy’s next generation of flattops, are getting fixed, officials told lawmakers during a Tuesday hearing on Capitol Hill....

...The Ford has long been a source of disgruntlement to President Donald J. Trump, who repeatedly bashes the carrier’s Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System, or EMALS, which is replacing traditional steam-powered catapults. In a Thanksgiving call to Capt. Pat Hannifin, the commanding officer of the Nimitz-class carrier Ronald Reagan while it was visiting Hong Kong, Trump asked the skipper to compare his warship to the Ford.

“Tell me about the catapult,” Trump said. “On Gerald Ford, they don’t use steam, which is the first one that I’ve ever heard of that doesn’t use steam. And I know they have some difficulties, which I’m not happy about, and they spent a lot of money. And I was just curious — the steam system is tried and true for many, many years, as long as we’ve had aircraft carriers, how do you find steam versus what they’re doing on the Gerald Ford, which is electronic and digital, if you can believe it.”

Hannifin told Trump that while the Nimitz class of carriers has depended on the reliable steam catapults for generations, EMALS “offered some great benefits” such as reducing stress on aircraft, but like any new system it required experts to “work through the bugs.” Unlike legacy steam catapults, EMALS was designed to vary the stroke of the launch based on the size and weight of the aircraft its hurling into the air. That’s particularly important for launching relatively light aircraft like aerial drones.

Initial software gremlins prevented the Ford from deploying combat-loaded aircraft but Navy officials believe a system update slated to be installed while the carrier is in the shipyard will fix them.

Echoing Trump on Tuesday, subcommittee chairman Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Mississippi, grilled Geurts on whether Congress will “be glad we with the EMALS and Advanced Arresting Gear?” Noting the 747 launches and recoveries at sea the Ford performed since it commissioned in 2017, plus more than 24,000 launch and recovery cycles using the systems at the land-based site in [?], Geurts was optimistic. [We can guess the ONLY LAND SITE where this testing is possible - can't we.]

“While there have been technical difficulties we’ve had to work through, it really opens up our ability to operate a wider variety of aircraft from the deck, both manned and unmanned which I think is going to be critical to those effective carrier operations as we look to the future,” Geurts said...."

Source: https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-nav ... after-all/

[spazsinbad]

Launch-and-Landing Failures Add to $13 Billion Ship’s Troubles
30 Jan 2019 Anthony Capaccio

"Gerald R. Ford had 20 failures in sea operations, tester says
-Navy already faces problems with carrier’s munitions elevators…

...The previously undisclosed failures with the electromagnetic systems made by General Atomics occurred during more than 740 at-sea trials since the aircraft carrier’s delivery in May 2017 despite praise from Navy officials of its growing combat capabilities. The Navy must pay to fix such flaws under a “cost-plus” development contract.

The new reliability issues add to doubts the carrier, designated as CVN-78, will meet its planned rate of combat sorties per 24 hours -- the prime metric for any aircraft carrier -- according to the annual report on major weapons from the Defense Department’s operational test office.

“None of the interruptions experienced during CVN-78 flight operations caused injury to personnel, or damage to the aircraft or ship,” Michael Land, a Navy spokesman, said in an email. There were, he added, two “mission aborts” associated with the catapult launch system. In both cases, flight operations were briefly suspended and “a correction was implemented.”...

...Ten “critical failures” occurred during 747 at-sea catapults of jets; another 10 “operational mission failures” occurred during 763 shipboard landing attempts, according to the testing office’s report.…

...Land, a spokesman for the Naval Air Systems Command, said in an email that the 747 launch and landings to date are “quite an achievement” but “an insufficient number of events from which to draw conclusions with respect to reliability.”"

Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... s-troubles