Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: hplabs!ron@hpfcmgw.hp.com (Ron Miller)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: Stealing Fighters
Message-ID: <11225@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 8 Nov 89 04:40:37 GMT
References: <10578@cbnews.ATT.COM>
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From: hplabs!ron@hpfcmgw.hp.com (Ron Miller)

> 
> From: rshu@ads.com (Richard Shu)
> 
> In article <10798@cbnews.ATT.COM> random@cbnewse.ATT.COM (Random @ rebmA) writes:>yyy
> >It doesn't seem that dificult from a ground based airfield. 
>                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Anybody with carrier experience want to comment on how easy
> it would be to steal a plane?  Of course, one problem you
> run into is you better be close to shore when you do it
> cuz otherwise you're guaranteed to be facing some pretty
> PO'ed people when you land.
> 
> Rich
> 

I'm not a carrier pilot but I've ridden off and onto the carrier in
an F-4 and my dad was an F-4 pilot.

I suspect that since a catapault launch is required to leave the carrier
(unless you use a helo) that the airplanes are safe from theft. A thief
probably couldn't steer the airplane well enough to be attached to the 
catapault shuttle.  Never mind all the people hustling around on deck 
looking at the pilot.

As for landing back aboard, well, a ready-to-try-landing-aboard trainee
pretty well answered that recently, didn't he?

Ron Miller