Why US Tried the Most Dangerous Landing Ever Made on an Aircraft Carrier

Welcome back to the FLUCTUS channel for a feature of the most extreme landing operations at sea, and how modern technology and human innovation have challenged pilots to land and take off from the most demanding runways, like amphibious assault ships, makeshift dirt runways and drastically shortened landing zones in the middle of the sea.

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[kellywilson]

The guy landing the Herc on the ship is retired Admiral James Flatley, I served with his son LT Joe Flatley in 1986/1988 in VFA-131 Wildcats out of NAS Cecil Field fla .

[gazof-the-north]

The guy who landed the C-130 on the Forrestal was actually an F-4 Phantom pilot. It was decided that it would be easier to teach a Phantom pilot with lots of carrier trap experience to fly a Herky bird than to teach a Herky Bird pilot with no carrier experience to trap on an aircraft carrier!

[texgowing]

I was stationed in Hong Kong from June 68 to November 70. During that time I think 69 USS Coral Sea anchored off the Island, so some of us went out by boat to gaze in awe. She had a compliment of 5, 000 & there were 2 brothers on board for 2 years who had never bumped into each other. I had never seen anything like it, massive doesn't do it credit. I really was so very impressed & in awe of this amazing feat of engineering, an experience I will never forget.

[manmatt]

C 130 is the best truck ever built. Outstanding.

[marksamuelsen]

I was a Corporate Pilot for 35+years and this guy had nerves of steel. Amazing absolutely incredible

[dathyr]

I worked (was a Crew Chief) on the C-130's back in the Viet Nam Years and they are an amazing aircraft. 4 Years spent in the Air Force was at Philippines, Tawain, Viet Nam, South Korea, Japan, Hawaii, and then finally at Edwards Air Base. Was quite an experience and got to see countries I will never get to see again.

[saeidkharrat]

ABSOLUTELY AMAZING WITH A NICE ENGLISH SPOKEN PERSON

[mistytharpe]

C-130, A-10, F-15 . Proof that you can't improve upon perfection

[GraemePayneMarine]

The C-130 has been known for short landing and takeoff performance since it's introduction. With the variable pitch propeller blades, it can even go in reverse (on the ground!).

[mwales]

C-130, the greatest aircraft ever produced... Spent 24 years with the USAF as a crew chief from 1981-2005.

[Vitaee]

Landing a C-130 on an aircraft carries is pretty damn impressive. Massive salute to the pilots who can pull this off.

[abelewin]

I am so happy I live in a great country, the U.S.A. The greatest country that ever existed.

[mpojr]

im 74 now but back during the Vietnam war spent alot of time flying on a great aircraft.

[martinwalker]

The picture shows the island on the left/port side of the ship. The island is always on the right/starboard side because of the direction of rotation of aircraft engines. Therefore the picture is reversed.

[michaelfrost]

As an ex sailor on HMAS Melbourne our Aircraft carrier from Australia, American pilots refused to land on the Melbourne because it was so small. Just goes to show how good our Australian Navy Pilots were.

[wbujb]

Video's never do justice to the size of an aircraft carrier. Not until you have been on the flight deck during flight ops, can you truly appreciated them. I have had the honor of serving on board the U.S.S. America for a couple years. The first traps that I witnessed, I was scared to death. Noise, wind, jet blasts and concussion of the aircraft hitting the deck at full throttle can never be expressed in words.

[clavo]

Make a welder/fitter's heart get all excited. And what man isn't a flight hobbyist; to enjoy all the variations of aircraft that use the aircraft carriers? Great stuff.

[plato]

They also landed U-2 spy planes on carriers as an experiment to test if recovery was possible. These tests to recover the Hercules were successful but it was decided not to use this as a recovery method.

[Donnieby]

I saw the U2 land on the USS AMERICA in 1968-69 and it took off also getting airborne well before it passed the island! It almost got flipped over there so light weight!

[whuzyodadi]

I last flew on this aircraft in 2002. It was one of the first Marine KC-130's in Afghanistan. Donated to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola in 2005