Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a GA aircraft doing a touch and
go (or landing) on an aircraft carrier?

On a carrier, I think it'd properly be called a 'touch and go then
guantanamo bay'.

If it was unauthorised then quite rightly so - it just occured to me that
for all of the hundreds of carrier takeoffs I've seen on video, not one was
a GA aircraft. I just wondered if any GA pilot has ever asked? Or if some GA
pilot knows the captain and has been given permission etc etc etc.

"Ben Hallert" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> On a carrier, I think it'd properly be called a 'touch and go then
> guantanamo bay'.
>

In article >,
"Cockpit Colin" > wrote:

> If it was unauthorised then quite rightly so - it just occured to me that
> for all of the hundreds of carrier takeoffs I've seen on video, not one was
> a GA aircraft. I just wondered if any GA pilot has ever asked? Or if some GA
> pilot knows the captain and has been given permission etc etc etc.
>
> "Ben Hallert" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> > On a carrier, I think it'd properly be called a 'touch and go then
> > guantanamo bay'.
> >


During the Korean War, a friend of mine ferried Army staff officers to
the Hornet to plan the Inchon invasion -- in an L-17 Navion.

After the fall of Saigon, RVN pilots (with families aboard) landed L-19s
on carriers to escape the Communists. One of those L-19s is on display
at the pensacola museum.

Cockpit Colin opined

>Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a GA aircraft doing a touch and
>go (or landing) on an aircraft carrier?

Seems to me that Sky King landed his 310 on a carrier.




-ash
Cthulhu in 2005!
Why wait for nature?

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 12:06:21 +1300, "Cockpit Colin"
> wrote:

>Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a GA aircraft doing a touch and
>go (or landing) on an aircraft carrier?
>
>


A few years ago the Navy sponsored something on the East coast and my
friend was able to take his SNJ onto a carrier. Many other planes
also landed on the carrier. He was not allowed to land the plane
himself, but was allowed to take off. I don't know the details but
the pictures were really cool, and he had one of the best times in his
life.

I also don't know if a civilian owned ex-military aircraft meets your
criteria.

z

On Mon, 17 Jan 2005 14:12:50 +1300, "Cockpit Colin" >
wrote:

>If it was unauthorised then quite rightly so - it just occured to me that
>for all of the hundreds of carrier takeoffs I've seen on video, not one was
>a GA aircraft. I just wondered if any GA pilot has ever asked? Or if some GA
>pilot knows the captain and has been given permission etc etc etc.
>

when the carriers are on R&R and are parked in gage roads off
fremantle we fly past and think "that'd be easy" however there is a 5
mile exclusion zone created around each carrier. air traffic control
watch it like a hawk.

my personal opinion is that it isnt hard but you have no chance of
finding out.
Stealth Pilot

>Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a GA aircraft doing a touch and
>go (or landing) on an aircraft carrier?

Sure. L-4s took off from an aircraft carrier for Operation Torch, the
invasion of North Africa in November 1942. The navy also had landing
craft converted to takeoff-only carriers for L-4s in the invasion of
Sicily and other places. There was even an LST with a wire slung on
the starboard side, for L-4s and L-5s to take off AND LAND. Called the
Brodie Device. www.pipercubforum.com/lbird.htm

At least one Cessna 172? landed on a U.S. aircraft carrier in the 1975
evacuation of Saigon, flown by a VNAF pilot with his family aboard.
The plane of course was shoved overboard, like many another.


-- all the best, Dan Ford

email (put Cubdriver in subject line)

Warbird's Forum: www.warbirdforum.com
Piper Cub Forum: www.pipercubforum.com
the blog: www.danford.net

Cockpit Colin wrote:
> Out of curiosity, has anyone ever heard of a GA aircraft doing a
touch and
> go (or landing) on an aircraft carrier?

As others have posted, military Navions landed on carriers. I have
also seen a film of the Vietnamese 172 pilot landing on a carrier in
1975.

A friend of mine is a Navy (and former GA) pilot. We've often
discussed the possibility of getting a GA aircraft on the deck.
Assuming the wires are down, it wouldn't be that difficult to do if the
boat was steaming into the wind. If you assume a (roughly) 40 knot
headwind, the landing roll on a light single should be short enough to
stop with room to spare.

John Galban=====>N4BQ (PA28-180)

" wrote:
>
> Assuming the wires are down, it wouldn't be that difficult to do if the
> boat was steaming into the wind.

They could let the thing drift, as far as I'm concerned. Maules don't need much
room.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

"G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> " wrote:
>>
>> Assuming the wires are down, it wouldn't be that difficult to do if the
>> boat was steaming into the wind.
>
> They could let the thing drift, as far as I'm concerned. Maules don't need
> much
> room.
>
> George Patterson
> The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

There was an article a couple of years back about a UK pilot who landed a
weightshift microlight, by invitation, on a British carrier (our carriers
are really small, Helicopters and Harriers, not the US behemoths). I
remember him saying that the deck looked really small on his landing
approach.

Andy M

If you look back far enough to the 1960s, an episode of Sky King had Kirby
Grant landing the "Songbird" on a carrier. I think it was the Cessna 310 before
he had the 320 Sky Knight.

Walt

>Subject: GA on Aircraft Carrier???
>From: "Cockpit Colin"

I know a pilot with a great "painting" of his Champ on final to a carrier.
Looks very real, though it is only a painting. Mac