Aircraft carried

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- Taking stomach-churning dips and loops on a roller

coaster can’t compare to a launch off an aircraft carrier.

Former Newport Beach City Councilman Art Gronksy got a unique look at

naval operations earlier this month when he and several of his friends --

including Cannery manager Bill Hamilton and Balboa Bay Club president

Henry Schielein -- were guests aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier John C.

Stennis.

The trip was sort of a payback for the group of Newport residents, who

are active members of the Navy League, a civilian support group for the

military branch. The organization assists naval service men and women

when they are in port.

Gronsky, a Navy airman during World War II, was eager to take an inside

peek into one of the Navy’s largest vessels.

“It’s one of the most exciting opportunities to witness firsthand a naval

operation,” Gronsky said. “It’s real good to know we have that type of

equipment and expertise to ensure a safe country. Getting to see how it

works, let’s you know your tax dollars are being well spent.”

The group was given the red-carpet treatment upon their departure from

San Diego. They flew out to the carrier, which was about 100 miles off

the coast, in a twin-engine aircraft. The group safely arrived aboard the

carrier when they were hooked by a mechanism that allows planes to land.

For two days, the men were given a tour of the ship, watched jet planes

arrive and depart and ate with the captain and his ranking staff.

The carrier is named after John Stennis, a senator who served 41 years

and saw eight presidents pass through the White House. The ship, a

Nimitz-class carrier, measures 1,100 feet in length and is home to more

than 6,000 crew.

The group also slept on board, but the change in scenery wasn’t easy to

adapt to, Gronsky said. He and bunkmate Hamilton’s temporary sleeping

arrangements were under the ship’s blast deflector. The piece of

equipment lifts and shuts when a plane arrives or leaves. That movement

is accompanied by a strange hissing sound. It apparently didn’t bother

Hamilton who slept soundly. The same couldn’t be said of Gronsky, who was

restless from the sporadic noise.

“An aircraft carrier is a noisy place,” he said. “I couldn’t sleep much,

just a couple of hours. There was enough noise to wake the dead.”

Most of the group had some kind of military experience, but they couldn’t

pass up a chance to land on a carrier.

“Not many civilians get an opportunity to land on a carrier,” Hamilton

said. “That’s the first time I ever did that. It’s an incredible force

that doesn’t last very long. It throws you off the deck like a catapult

into the air. Nothing compares to the forces you feel.”

Other members of the group echoed Hamilton’s excitement.

“When that hook grabs the plane you definitely it,” Schielein said. “I

thought I left my stomach 20 feet behind me when we took off. It was a

once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”