E-2C Hawkeye Night Carrier Landing 

I was an enlisted aircrewman radar operator in E2-Cs, VAW 124, 1974 through 1978 aboard the USS America. I had 222 traps, double centurion. No question Navy pilots are incredible. Many of the flights I was on were at night, often in very bad weather and they always got us back safe and sound. Once on a daytime flight we had to shut down an engine (chip light) over the Med near Crete and we landed with one engine, no chance for a bolter if the XO missed a wire. He didn’t. Another night late, windy, rainy, nasty, our pilot, Lt. xxxxx had several bolters in a row, at least three. No in flight refueling for the E2, too far from any bingo opportunity, it was either land or ditch (gulp!) He finally brought us home safely. I remember when we got back to the ready room he could barely hold his cigarette in his shaking hand. Don’t misinterpret, he was a true professional and brought a very large plane safely back on the pitching deck in terrible weather with five guys on board. The E2 is normally launched first, stays up for a double cycle (about 4 hours) and traps last. Great airplane, great pilots, great fun.

Why did I watch this and I felt like I was in the cockpit with those guys and I was happy that we made it aboard. Lol

Night carrier landings are the truest test whether you can function smoothly and precisely despite the stress of the moment. On an overcast night you lose the ability to gauge whether your wings are level since there is no visible horizon. This causes difficulty maintaining centerline alignment. Testing done on Navy pilots with Holter monitors that measure stress found that pilots experience higher stress levels making night traps than they do in combat. The E-2 is very challenging as the 80' wing span and slow approach speed makes the aircraft very susceptible to dropping below the glide path as it enters the low pressure area immediately behind the ship. Over controlling this tendency sets you up for a bolter (overfly the wires and have to come around and try it again.) Under controlling sets you up for a ramp strike. I landed 4 different aircraft types on the "boat" and taught students to make their first carrier landings as a Landing Signal Officer (LSO). The E-2 was the last aircraft I flew in the fleet. A great honor!

Awesome, brings back a lot of memories, used to fly E2C Hawkeyes... VAW-121 the Griffins aboard the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower... back in the day was involved in both Operation Eagle Claw and Operation Urgent Fury!

Pink landings count as night landings...get them when you can. Great job! Hard plane to land with such a large wing span. E-2 pilots are bad to the bone. Thanks for posting it

I'm Air Force all the way, but I do admire what the Navy pilots do as routine. Good job!

Great video. My father Cmdr Brook flew the first E2 out to the KittyHawk back in the 60's. Very accomplished aviator. Between Korean War and VN had over 600 carrier landings.

1 potato, 2 potato, lights are off!

Glad we got you guys on our side.

Professionals at work - cool video! Love the Hawkeye - eye of the fleet!

hugely impressive, making it sound like a walk in the park.

Sounds like Deuce in the right seat! Thank you for posting! Fun for the kids and I to watch.

COOL! Love to watch all of this; also EXTREMELY proud of all of our military men and women! Forever grateful, my heroes.

Great CRM. Well done gents.

Spent 20+ a couple of days in the navy -- 4 years of carrier service -- and these pilots STILL amaze me. I was a blackshoe but as a twiget I got more than my share of topside views and I still marvel at what these guys and gals can do. No other country even comes close to doing the stuff these folks do (and we did) every day. Now with the tech we have and these aircrew allowing us to see what they do with these new cameras or gopros or whatever .... it's even more amazing. Thanks, sir or madam, for posting these for us.

Being a Radar Operator on these was a blast. I sure miss it!!

Thanks for posting this great video! I've never landed on or been on an aircraft carrier, but I would think that landing would be considered textbook perfect.

He absolutely nailed it.Right between the cross-hairs.Nice job!

Mad props to the whole crew!

I love the PLAT, i can't get enough of that stuff.

Nice job. Did this many times in an A4. Nights are the best. Sweaty hands and all.

My Dad had a handful of night landings on the Cowpens (CVL-25); June '43 - August '44, flying an Avenger. I CAN'T even...

What a fantastic video! They are so cool and professional.

That was pretty! Nice job, Bluetail!

Damn I love this kind of stuff! Thank you for the upload!

Dark is dark my man....Love it. :)

That;...was something else! I'm not sure if I would want a ride in a spare seat though 😏. Great stuff guys!

There are lots of launch videos. This is the first landing I've seen from the cockpit view. Thanks.

Awesome vid. Felt ‘SEAT’ real and doesn’t get any better WITHOUT flying it..

I stood on the Eagles Nest on TR 71 many nights watching night ops. Balls of concrete. Nerves of steel. Especially the first carried quals of a deployment. Lots of rust to shake off and many new pilots just getting blooded for the first time. Doing it in daylight is hard enough, but at night with a moving ship and winds? Like I said, balls of concrete.

My first squadron was with E-2's at NAS Miramar '76-'80. I was Plane Captain the whole time, loved it.

I love this. Prog Phlyer 1977-1981. USMC HMM-163 We had polaroid cameras!

i was very anxious watching this, i cant imagine doing it. i had an uncle that was a WWII fighter pilot in the Pacific he flew off the USS LEXINGTON. he talked a little about carrier takeoff and landings.

Darn good job. An extended member of the family here flew the C2 for 8 years, stepped out of that right into a seat with FedX

Outstanding. Extremely impressive pilots!

That was nice. Pros at work.

Beautiful landing!

WOW! Balls of steel. Great landing.

I love that calm almost cowboy speak they use.

I'll sleep a little more snug tonight. Thank Yall, again and again.

Bet that was a big "OK" underlined there. No adjustments from paddles at all!

These pilots make it look so easy , threading a needle in the dark . Nice job

I haven't worked the deck in 9 years. I still have nightmares that I can't find my yellow wands and the sun's way gone.

Damn clean landing, rite there!

VAW-121. My dad used to work with those guys. Really cook seeing one of the planes he worked on in this video

Oh how neat, I was onboard that big ol girl at this time! So awesome!

Wow! I’m a ex AF ramp guy and I’m always fascinated at the Navy Flyers because of their unique abilities. If I’m ever reborn I’m going to Navy Flight school🙏🙏👍🏻

Dark is dark my man! Awesome.

Enjoyed the video! I got 85 traps on the Eisenhower in an E-2 back in 1998. Miss the flying but don't miss being on the boat! You were probably chasing centerline because the ship was in a turn. So annoying when they do that...

Totally professional. Respect.

Only one word! Fantastic....

There's nothing like hitting the traps in an C-2/E-2 truly the best carrier pilots in the game because the pilot is doing all the work NO FLY BY WIRE COMPUTER TO HELP. All stick, rudders, and powerlevers. FLY NAVY

That was cool. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for yours services ladys and gentlemen, kool thanks BigAl California.

Greatn pilots make great landings.... :-) From Brussels, with Love...

That was great thanks!

Great skills - i have trouble parking my car in daylight let alone do that stuff at twilight at such speeds.

Retired OSC(SW). Memories of days with the Liberty Bells onboard Midway.

Awesome, I am sure these pilots are the cream of the crop.

Very nice pass!

When you see these landing from the outside, it seems to easy and smooth...but from the cockpit it's a whole different story.

Watched the glideslope indicator light to the ball, nice corrections.

Holy crap. Impressive.

U.S. NAVY PILOTS, BRAVO ALPHA!

Great job gang!! 💪💪🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

These guys are amazing

Extra points for landing in twilight... coffee time.

Beautiful. 👏👏👏👏👏

this is the stuff I love to see

nice landing slick

I served with VAW-121 back in the mid-90's. Is that painting still on the wall as soon as you enter the hanger (towards left in the hallway)? That was my squadron mate (Dizon) that commissioned that piece. He was a line-rat at the time. I had served under Commander Carl M. June. Those were the days...

This. Is. BADASS.

They flew these in Vietnam if memory serves me right. It is said every carrier landing takes 1 day from a navy pilot's life.

Awesome!!! I love it...makes me want to re-enlist!!!

Those night time landings look nerve wracking! Its either cold swim in the sea and lots of explaining or hot chocolate and warm bed?

Wow that carrier came up fast.

highly skilled

No doubt pilot skills and the great engineering of machine and the rest of the systems but one should not forget the folks who designed the greatest training regime for the Navy pilots.

Crack'd me up the way that Aviator called the ball.

Is there anything more dramatic in military aviation than the Americans and their carriers ? Great video.

Good to c both engines running.

amazing !!!!

I still want to see a video showing and explaining how the talehook is connected to the fuselage.

Landing full power on a Postage Stamp.. Respect.

That was a clinic!

Buddy of mine was on Hue City, the Ship on Plane Guard for the trap.

Very Nice!

The best pilot of the world

Damn those last 10 seconds, i would have pissed my pants

Oh my…..!!!!! Amazing!!!!!

Dark is dark.. yes sir.

Pure skill.

Awesome

Nice!

Land an airplane on a moving landing strip, and at night !! Where do they find these people !?!?!?

Impressive! :)

The first time I watched this, I was sure I was seeing the ship out of the windshield. All of a sudden, what I thought was the ship wasn't and the carrier appeared and they landed. Good thing I wasn't driving...

This is like trying to land on a football field thats MOVING out in the ocean! “Ring clenching” “Rrrroger” “ on shorts final” “Check shorts” “Shorts brown” “Copy” “Call the ball” “Balls clenching” “Rrrroger” TOUCHDOWN crowd goes wild!

Go NAVY!!!

Pinky Recovery all the way, but hey it counts as a night pass. Nice pass !!!