Siyaya: Aircraft carrier in San Diego

Sailing, Flying, Walking

To swoop and circle through the air in an old-fashioned biplane or an F-8 fighter plane might be something I will never experience, but just walking between the planes on the historic aircraft carrier museum in San Diego comes very close. This is living indeed.

Pieter and I with the USS Midway in the background.

We spotted the aircraft carrier, the USS Midway, on our very first day in San Diego. We wanted to get onto the deck and start exploring right away, but saved this pleasure for a day when we would be less jetlagged. This is after all a once in a lifetime opportunity. On our last day before departing to Los Angeles we made a day of it. We were told to expect to spend three hours but found that four hours was just not long enough.

The aircraft carrier is a very popular tourist attraction, so there is a bit of a queue to get on board. Once on board one enters the hangar deck and is given an audio guide which is quite informative. What one gets to explore are four decks plus the captain's bridge on the Island Superstructure The USS Midway is a floating city at sea with galleys, officers' rooms (CAG spaces), dining halls, recreational rooms, sleeping quarters, the engine room, machine and metal shops, the brig, a laundry room, a small shop, the sick bay, a post office, a chapel and 27 restored aircraft.

An F4F Wildcat Fighter on the hangar deck.

Imagine these prices!

Bed with storage space for enlisted men.

Just look at that anchor cable!

These quarters are for those a bit higher up in the ranks.

It is a big ship, but man it is still cramped.

A brig is a necessity.

The Chapel

One learns that the Midway was one of America's longest-serving aircraft - from World War II to Operation Desert Storm. The Midway used to be powered by coal which meant several soldiers spent their time on board in very hot rooms and in very distressing circumstances. It is mentioned several times that the soldiers manning the ship were of an average age of just nineteen. These young men worked extremely hard with very little rest.

The 1.6 hectare flight deck - it is big - commands a 360 degree panoramic view of downtown San Diego. There are many meticulously restored aircraft on this deck (a number of aircraft are also to be found on the hangar deck, e.g. the F4U Corsair and the A-4 Shyhawk). There are, amongst others, the F-14 Tomcat, the F-4 Phantom II, the F9F Panther and an S-3 Viking.

San Diego from the deck of the USS Midway

F14 Tomcat

The Tomcat from a different angle.

The F4 Phantom

What one learns is that aircraft did not use the entire flight deck for landing, but less than a quarter of its length. An aircraft had to catch a wire on deck in order to land. All this is explained by a docent, usually a veteran pilot or marine. A pilot only had tiny rows of lights to guide him as to where to land. Taking off was even more of a marvel. The aircraft was propelled forward by a steam catapult for which a correct estimate of its weight was essential. A speed of 240 km/h in 80 metres was reached. Before takeoff all weapons had to be made live - the safeties were removed to facilitate instant firing. All this required an intricate system of hand signals as there was just too much noise for verbal communication.