Carrier suitability trials.

[corsair67]

USAF News Service.

North Atlantic - 1500hrs Zulu.

Carrier suitability trials for the Boeing C-17A commenced yesterday aboard the USS Britney Spears on station approx. 200 miles south-west of New York.

Apart from some trouble with jet blast when 79 sailors were blown overboard during the takeoff (all later rescued unharmed) and some minor buckling of the decking steel plates, no other major problems were encountered during the trials.

Official photo taken by C.P.O Chandler B. Weizslaw Jr from a Seahawk helicopter deployed by the destroyer USS Billy Bob Thornton.

[Dave Homewood]

Let's see a photo of the landing then smarty pants!

[flyjoe180]

[corsair67]

Geez, those tyres are smoking a bit excessively during touchdown - maybe that deck is a bit too short?

I wonder if this means the USAF won't be operating their C-17s off the carriers now? ;D

[phil82]

They did trials with a C130 a few years ago; real trials!

[corsair67]

That certainly is true, but they couldn't operate anything else off the carrier while the Herc was onboard, so it sort of defeated the purpose of the whole thing.

They had to paint a huge reference line down the flight deck so the Herc didn't strike the bridge with its wing.

[turboNZ]

....and the Herc took off without backing up from where it stopped !!!

[turboNZ]

Also
- the landing video video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4015390308129405896

- the take off video video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3656815532557531640