Final Flight

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FOR THEIR KINDNESS in offering technical advice to improve this novel, the author wishes to thank Lieutenant Commander James Boma; Commander R. E. “Smoke” Davis; Commander A1 Diel; Captain Stu Fitrell; Captain Steve Ganyard, USMC; Lieutenant Commander Robert S. Riche; Robert L. Shaw; Barrett Tillman; and Commander Bruce Wood. For reasons that should be obvious, the ship described in this novel differs in several significant ways from Nimitz-class carriers.

The pilots of the two F-14 D Tomcats on the catapults shoved the throttles of their engines to full military power at the same time. Up on Vulture’s Row, high on the carrier’s island superstructure, the off-duty observers pushed their fingers even deeper into their ears as the roar of four mighty engines at full power became an unendurable, soulnumbing crescendo.

The bow catapult officer, seated facing aft at his control console between the catapults, returned the salute of the pilot of the fighter on Catapult One, glanced at the signal light on the island — still yellow — and looked over his shoulder, down the catapult toward the bow. The bow safety observer had his left hand up, his thumb in the air. The cat officer again scanned the fighter. Still okay.

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