Susan Ford Bales, daughter of President Gerald R. Ford, christens the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78).
Last week the US Navy christened its newest carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford.
“I christen thee United States Ship Gerald R. Ford,” said [Susan Ford] Bales, breaking the bottle across the bow. “May God bless this ship and all those who sail her.”
President Ford served as a LtCmdr in the Navy. (He was also Read more
MajGen Michelle Johnson has been nominated for a third star and for the position of Superintendent, US Air Force Academy. As every press release so far has noted, when she is confirmed by the Senate she will be the first female to occupy that position.
Johnson is a 1981 distinguished graduate from the Academy where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in operations research. She was the first female cadet wing commander and the first female Rhodes Scholar from the Academy.
The USAFA Class of 1981 was the second to include women, after President Ford’s 1976 integration order.
Like LtGen Mike Gould, whom she will replace, MajGen Johnson is a career cargo/transport pilot.
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An experimental F-35C recently launched from the US Navy’s experimental Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS). Though it was not the first fighter to do so, it may very well be the first single-engine aircraft major weapons system launched by a US Navy catapult of any kind in some time. By the time the F-35 is operational, the EMALS will likely be established on the Gerald R. Ford class of carriers, assuming no major issues in each program.
The DoD published the video on YouTube.
The US Navy used its in-development Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) to launch an E-2D Hawkeye last week.
The upcoming Gerald R. Ford class of aircraft carriers will be the first that abandons the steam catapult for the EMALS, marking a significant change in naval aviation. To date, the EMALS has also launched F/A-18E Super Hornets, T-45 Goshawks, and the C-2A Greyhound.
The Navy posted videos of the launch, in which the traditional steam is noticeably absent, on YouTube.
The aura of steam is as expected on the deck of a Navy carrier as is the smell of jet fuel. The steam catapult has been launching aircraft from Naval aircraft carriers for decades.
The Electro-magnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) of the new Gerald R. Ford class carriers hopes to change that.
The EMALS system would be the first new launch system since the Navy replaced hydraulic catapults with steam-powered systems in the 1950s. An electro-magnetic system has numerous advantages over steam. EMALS, which involves energizing a series of electro-magnets, is less stressful on aircraft and can launch a wider range of aircraft.
Of course, the entire concept is predicated on electromagnetic fields, so one wonders what kind of interference such a system will have not only on the ship on which it is installed, but also the aircraft its launching.
The EMALS successfully “launched” an F/A-18E Super Hornet on December 18th from a modified runway in New Jersey. Though the Hornet wasn’t tossed precariously over the water as with other carrier-based launches, it presumably reached its required launch speed at the specified distance.