{Not really} Trucks launched off USS Gerald Ford to test its catapault

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Dave Weigel Retweeted

hoW wiLL we aFForD meDicaRe for aLL

Link to tweet

{Edited, because the rest of the thread clarifies things.}

Umm, not really.

Well, not trucks. Wheeled dead loads that simulate the weight of an aircraft.

Link to tweet

Yeah, because carrier aircraft weigh a lot more than small trucks, so the ability to launch a small truck doesn't tell you how a catapault will do with the real deal.

They gotta substantiate the catapault can get a 66,000lb-ish F-18E at max takeoff weight up to speed. So all the blocks of steel.

Link to tweet

Thirty-three tons? I was guessing a lot lower than that.

Wikipedia (Specifications (F/A-18E/F)) says it's more like 16 or 17 tons. Still more than I had been thinking.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

1. Email from Trump 2020 campaign manager:

Hey, any of you staffers seen the trucks full of maga hats and campaign posters?

I liked the first truck launch. The second one, with the forward flipover, would ruin a Navy aviator's day.

[Hoyt]

2. Skipping trucks, rather than rocks. Looks like fun.

[True Dough]

3. That first one skipped like a stone

I hope the truck drivers got danger pay!

[DBoon]

4. thankfully they aren't using cows

[hack89]

5. Max takeoff weight includes fuel and a shit load of bombs.

Empty weight is exactly that - an empty plane.

[keithbvadu2]

6. Saw a real video of launching a car from one of the carriers.

Saw a real video of launching a car from one of the carriers.

Looked like a Ford, maybe a Fairlane?

Out at sea, I think.

[localroger]

7. That's nothing, Elon Musk launched a car into space.

Similar reasons, even.