was airborne 60 feet above the peaceful waters of the Gulf, accelerating as the pilot gently picked up the nose and turned right, away from the ship, while raising the gear and flaps, then reversing his turn to the left to parallel the ship’s course.
A Prowler roared past on Wilson’s left off Cat 3. The pilot banked left, cleaning up and climbing into a mirror image of Smoke’s flight path. As both aircraft receded from view off the bow, Wilson grew impatient to launch. He wanted to minimize the distance building each second between him and his wingman.
The catapult crew now focused their attention on him, and at the instant the yellow shirt gave him the “take tension” signal, Wilson brought the throttles to military as the engines thundered to life behind him. On signal he lifted the launch bar switch to “UP.” In rote sequence, he extended the flight control stick to full travel in a deliberate motion forward… back… left… right…. Simultaneously, he pushed the rudder pedals to their limits with each leg and kept his eyes on the engine instruments.
Satisfied, Wilson turned to the catapult officer, made eye contact, and popped a jaunty salute before he, too, placed his head back in the head rest and braced for launch. Off to his right he saw the catapult officer return his salute and make his final checks of the aircraft and the cat track. Leaning into the 25-knot wind, he then looked forward, touched the deck with his hand, and pointed to the bow on one knee. Remaining motionless but taut, with his left arm locked and pushing the throttles forward to ensure they didn’t come back to idle during the stroke, Wilson’s eyes shifted left. He saw the green-shirted crewman with arms raised look up and down the track, then lower his arms.
Unseen and instantaneous force pinned Wilson’s shoulders back into the seat. His oxygen mask pushed tight against his face and caused his eyes to squint behind the helmet visor. The FA-18 seemed to bounce down the deck as it accelerated to flying speed, and like Smoke moments earlier, Wilson shoved the throttles past the military stop into burner. He heard the shuttle increase speed and saw the bow rush up to meet him. The 3 g’s against his body felt good as he hurtled down the track, and the airspeed box in the HUD rapidly scrolled above three figures. With an abrupt lurch forward, the g-force disappeared and a deafening boom sounded below as the shuttle slammed into the water brake beneath him.
