24-05-2025
What it takes to be a Navy pilot
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier has been an airport at sea since 2009. Over 5,000 sailors are on board when the ship is at capacity, and the F-18 and F-35 pilots are one of the main jobs.
Being a part of naval aviation takes years of training, and when News 2's Shelby Mac came aboard the CVN-77 pilots were doing aircraft carrier qualifications.
This is when pilots must take off and land on the aircraft carrier during the day and night a certain number of times, and get a certain score to be ready for upcoming missions.
Lieutenant Andrew Mueller, F-18 Instructor Pilot, has been training new naval pilots on the U.S.S. George H. W. Bush this season.
'We teach them to fly the Super Hornet, and this is final, their graduation here in which we're teaching them to land on the ship both day and night,' said Mueller, call sign Doug.
Tour the Captain's Import Cabin aboard the USS George H. W. Bush
This is no small task since the runway is 300 feet with the assistance of a catapult versus more than 5,000 feet on dry land for an F-18 take-off.
'As you launch off a catapult your brain is experiencing this feeling of rolling back in your head and it's giving the sensation that you're being shot up into the ether, so you really don't want to manipulate the controls until after you've come off then end, and the jets auto-trimmed to fly you away. So, you don't want to hastily grab the stick and push it either direction. So nice, disciplined shot, sweet, good shot, safely fly away, and then go into your procedures from there.'
Mueller is a second-generation Navy pilot, and the Hollywood movies helped others understand what exactly his dad's job was.
'My old man was actually a Navy Aviator back in the day, and prior to the original Top Gun movie coming out, people had no idea what Naval Aviators did, what an aircraft carrier was. It was almost an unknown group of fighter pilots going out and doing things, but once you make a couple of movies about it, then I think it puts it into the public's imagination, and it increases recruiting and retention as well.'
Mueller said he's proud of the work naval aviation does for our country, but the team wouldn't be successful without the entire crew.
'There are thirteen pilots and maybe ten jet aircraft, but honestly, there are 300 hard-working Navy sailors who are making sure that the engines are operational, the flight controls are there, and the software, everything that makes the whole team work.'
Once pilots have made a specific score on taking off and landing during the day, night comes and it's time to land on a moving runway in complete darkness.
To see more from Shelby's naval journey, check out the News 2 special report .
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