Here’s a cool GoPro video showing the final check of an F/A-18C Hornet right before catapult launch.
An interesting footage, shot by a “white shirt” on the flight deck of USS George H. W. Bush, shows the final checks on a VFA-87 F/A-18C Hornet before cat launch.
Final Checkers are flight deck inspectors which make final exterior checks of the aircraft, watch certain parts of the launching aircraft before give thumbs up before it is launched.
David Cenciotti is a freelance journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written four books.
The famous episode when a USAF F-4 pushed another Phantom outside North Vietnam airspace. Developed as interceptor in response to the need of the U.S. Navy to protect its aircraft carriers, in 1963 the U.S. […]
Again, Boris Aguilar provided the description of the flight gear worn by CVW-11 during my visit to USS Nimitz: Pilot and NFO in the cockpit of this F-18F from VFA-41 Black Aces. They are equipped […]
An incredible air-to-air engagement, where one U.S. pilot alone survived to six North Vietnamese MiGs. A true milestone in the progress of naval aviation, the Vought F-8 has been one of the few carrier-based fighters […]
