As I said in my first post I have personally witnessed pilots landing on the deck of a frigate that is possibly smaller than the one on that video clip in sea conditions far worse than those we have just looked at. Not only was the sea state far worse, not only was the landings done at night, but they were also carried out up in the Artic Circle in conditions that could freeze the condensation from your nostrils before you could sneeze
Furthermore the aircraft I am talking about was a much lighter Wasp that may have been more challenging to fly, although please do not think I am attempting to belittle the skills of anyone that flies our modern day magnificent flying machines.
However once the Wasp touches terra firma or terra steel the air crew will have to wait until four aircraft handlers run out onto that swaying deck and secure the aircraft with canvas strops and in the example I am talking about...... where the deck was not covered in grease it was covered in ICE! (The grease was used to prevent ice from sticking to the ship's superstructure, but grease on a flight deck is NOT a good idea)
This is an image posted merely to show the strops used to hold the Wasp onto the deck (no harpoon type deck-lock in those days
)
Please note that I am NOT blowing my own trumpet, I am also NOT saying what colour uniform the pilot wore, and I am NOT attempting to belittle ANYONE. My comments and posts are made to highlight\congratulate all those that fly these machines in conditions where some civilians might have nightmares when they just look at them on a TV screen in the comfort of their living room
We often read about how the most frightening part of a military sortie is the time spent over enemy territory, this might well be the case but I would prefer the word 'hostile' as opposed to enemy.
Just found another image that highlights the 'uppy, downy' movement of a
South African runway\airfield and for those that have not served on a small ship in rough weather then just think about a runaway lift that also rolls from side to side
