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Carrier Qals Get Air Wing, KH Crew Back Up to Speed

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS051115-09
Release Date: 11/15/2005 10:00:00 AM

By Photographer’s Mate Airman Adam York, USS Kitty Hawk Public Affairs

ABOARD USS KITTY HAWK, At sea (NNS) -- USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63) and all embarked air crews of Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5 got underway in November to conduct carrier qualifications (CQ).

Whenever an aircraft carrier such as Kitty Hawk gets underway, all embarked air crews must complete CQs to become re-qualified to land on the ship.

According to Lt. j.g. Chris Nesset, an EA-6B Prowler pilot with Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 136, CVW-5 prepared for CQ by flying "boat patterns" over Iwo Jima, Japan, where landing signal officers (LSO) could help break in new pilots along with warming up the more experienced pilots.

“We’ll make practice runs, and the LSOs will grade us on how well we can land in the day and night,” said Nesset. “It’s harder at night than the day, because in the day time you can see everything around you and the ship, but at night you can hardly see anything. So by the time we got to the ship we conducted CQs to show the LSOs that we could land safely.”

In order to complete the CQ evolution, the pilots must complete a series of four passes during the day: two “touch-and-goes” and two arrested recoveries. They also must perform two recoveries at night, according to Nesset.

“When we’re on an airfield, launching is real easy because we have 8,000 feet of runway, but the numbers get much more precise when we start launching and arresting on the carrier,” said Nesset. “By the end of an [underway], everyone is real comfortable with the ship, but then we go back to the beach and we’ll have a long break. That’s why we have to re-qualify with the precise numbers involved with launching and recovering on aircraft carriers.”

But CQs aren’t just practice for the pilots’ ability to safely land on an aircraft carrier; they are also an opportunity for Kitty Hawk’s air department to renew its skills and proficiency at handling aircraft and managing flight operations.

“We have to get re-qualified, because it allows the crew on the flight deck and the pilots to get practice launching and recovering on a strict time schedule,” said Chief Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Handling) (AW) Jimmy Candelaria, who is on temporary duty with Kitty Hawk from USS Enterprise (CVN 65) as flight deck leading chief petty officer.

“This CQ cycle is especially important because there has been a large number of new personnel on the ship, so we’re going to require lots of training,” Cantdelaria added. “Part of the training involves the crew moving the recovered and launching aircraft, and keeping a tight schedule with the pilots. This allows both the ship’s crew and the squadron personnel to form into one team to be able to perform at a combat-ready level.”

Also heavily involved in CQs are the carrier air traffic control center (CATCC) and primary flight control (Pri-Fly), who both receive a chance to hone their skills while directing aircraft non-stop until CQs are over, according to Air Traffic Controlman 1st Class Shannon Lynch, CATCC’s air operations leading petty officer.

“One of the challenges we face in this training is handling ‘bolters,’” said Lynch. A bolter is a missed approach resulting from the aircraft’s hook failing to engage the arresting wires. “Bolters increase our workload because we have to create separation versus merely maintaining separation in the other aircraft preparing to land. This, along with us getting back up to speed, makes CQ operations challenging but very exciting.”

As Kitty Hawk gets back underway, CQs have brought Kitty Hawk’s crew back together with the air crews of CVW-5 to re-instill combat readiness and confidence, said Nesset.

“Launching and recovering off a ship is bit nerve-racking at the beginning of an [underway], but that’s why we need this training. It’s a good way to get comfortable with the operating of the ship again,” he said.

The Kitty Hawk Strike Group is the largest carrier strike group in the Navy and is composed of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 5, the guided-missile cruisers USS Chancellorsville (CG 62) and USS Cowpens (CG 63), and Destroyer Squadron 15.