The view from the Bubble

Today I found my way into the Waist Bubble.
Huh?
I can see this will require some clarification. The flight deck is divided into three general sections: The Bow, The Waist, and the Fantail. The catapults are located on the bow (Cats 1 and 2) and the waist (Cats 3 and 4).

There are many people involved in preparing jets for a catapult shot: squadron troubleshooters, QA personnel called "final checkers", Catapult technicians, flight deck directors, and one officer who is called the "Shooter". The Shooter has the final authority to press the button to activate the catapult, releasing a huge steam powered piston that accelerates the jet from zero to way fast in a very short distance and time. (Way fast is a technical term that is a little complicated to explain in this forum). Normally, the shooter stands on the flight deck next to the catapult and directs his team using hand signals and and a portable radio. Everything happens very quickly. Many factors come into play to get a jet in the air safety, including the weight of the jet, the temperature and humidity of the air, the condition of the catapult motor, and the winds over the deck. All of these factors are put together in a matter of seconds to make the correct settings, get a thumbs up from all the checkers and directors, and shoot the aircraft off the cat. The shooter is not always up on the flight deck, however. On the bow and at the Waist, there are tiny little rooms that elevate up to flight deck level, with narrow windows that look out on the flight deck at boot level. The shooter can sit inside this little room, called the "Bubble," and control the catapult from there. The bow bubble pops up right in the middle, between Cats 1 and 2. The waist bubble pops up in the catwalk, just forward of Cat 3's JBD. It's pretty interesting, the array of buttons and settings he has available to him. Normally, when he is topside, the shooter directs a green shirt via hand signals, who stands in the catwalk to make the same settings on a deck edge console. Shooting from the bubble is just a different technique and provides options for how the deck is run during launches. Observing a launch from the bubble was one of the tasks I had to observe for my CDO qual. I'm finding all kinds of places on the ship I've never been before.
I briefed for my flight tonight just as dinner time was starting. Fortunately, we had time between the brief and when we were due to launch to run down and grab a bite. Tonight's menu was Mongolian BBQ. This was one of the best meals we've had yet. They even attempted to have a little ambiance, by turning off the overhead florescent lights and just running the sconces on the wall and lighting little candles on the tables. The CS's ran it like a real MBBQ, where we selected some veggies, a meat, and rice or noodles, then put in the order to be cooked. About 15 minutes later, I had a steaming plate of teryaki chicken with broccoli, cabbage, carrots, and noodles. Not bad at all. Unfortunately, I couldn't relax and enjoy my dinner. By the time my plate came out, I had to scarf it down and get going so I was ready when my aircraft landed.
It was a "Hot Pump / Crew Switch," which means the helicopter lands and stays spinning on deck while we switch crews, fill up on gas, then takeoff again. We typically launch a helicopter before flight ops begins, and that single helicopter keeps spinning until the end of the fly day, sometimes more than 12 hours! We just keep swapping crews and refueling. As I've said before, these machines are amazing. Before the helicopter came, I had to preflight my harness and NVG's, and get all my gear together. When I go flying, I carry a small bag that contains my kneeboard, checklists, gloves, flashlight, chemlights, and a few other small items; and a camelback, full of water. They both hang from carabiners behind my shoulder in the cockpit. At night, I also carry up a bag with a set of NVG's which I'll put on once I strap in. When we fly over land, I also carry a large backpack with more water, survival equipment, and extra clothes appropriate for the environment (my "ditch pack"). Tonight was a simple plane guard flight with a pretty senior crew, so it was low stress. After we landed, we had more briefs and lectures until 2200 tonight! The fun never stops.