USS George Washington CVN-74 & C-2 Greyhound

While aboard the USS George Washington CVN-74, Nimitz class aircraft carrier, I embedded with a group of C-2 Greyhound pilots as they trained for their carrier qualifications, which is the white knuckling process of learning how to land on an aircraft carrier. We filmed the progression of their training from an airfield at NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia to the final tests aboard the George Washington. We flew out to the carrier in the North Atlantic, landed hard on the deck, snagged by the arresting cables and stayed the week as our training squad completed the qualification landings and achieved certification. When it was time to leave and fly back to the base, I was catapulted off the carrier going from zero to 170 mph in two-seconds. It was special to be part of this training as it’s such an intensely focused time for the pilots and an important milestone early in their careers. A couple videos filmed off my phone show a landing and catapult launch onboard the George Washington. You can see the power of the F-18 before launch as I try holding my camera still and the vibration in the video image… it’s such raw power up close, it shakes the fillings in your teeth! Fantastic access from the Navy to get tons of flight deck time day and night, and up-close to the action! I’ve had so many great experiences filming with the US Navy, including time aboard the carrier USS Nimitz a few years before.

Tech Specs

Tonnage: 104,200 long tons
Length: 1,092 ft
Beam: 252 ft
Draft: 41 ft
Power: 2 x Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors
Capacity: 6012
Propulsion: 4 x steam turbines, 4 x shafts
260,000 shp (194 MW)
Commissioned: July 4, 1992
Motto: “Spirit of Freedom”