I waited patiently, then before we knew it, thirty-five jets were in the air and on their way to Iraq in just over 20 minutes. One catapult can have a new plane ready for launch in less than 30 seconds. All air strikes on the first night came from the USS Enterprise. We launched four strikes that night, our final recovery of aircraft was at 0530 in the morning. This continued for almost four days with help from allied forces in Great Britain.
Crewman watches sunrise starting the second day of air strikes.
Hornet being directed to Catapult 1 during stirke. Hornet goes into after- burners on Catapult 3.